United We Stand As One
by Anime Master ZERO
Summary: The Blackhearted are on the verge of destroying every anime universe. Can a select team of anime characters save their worlds and stop this unbeatable evil? Find out for yourself.
1. The One Who Inherits Fire

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Disclaimer: I do not own any of the animé shows or other Japanese classics that will appear on this fanfic.

However, I do own the league of evil called the Blackhearted.

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UNITED WE STAND AS ONE

The One Who Inherits Fire

The Legendary Warrior of Fire, Agnimon, stood with his comrades – Wolfmon, Fairymon, Blitzmon, Chakmon, and Löwemon – as the six of them faced the double-sword-wielding half-man, half-horse-like Digimon Zanbamon.

"Go!" cheered Neemon in his nasal-congestion-like voice from the side.

"Don't even think that you can win," said Zanbamon through his humanoid head while horned horse head near his abdomen only neighed demonically.

"We'll see," said Agnimon. The Warrior of Fire smashed his fists together and created two swirling streams of flames around his arms. "BURNING SALAMANDER!" He drew his arms back and launched each Burning Salamander at Zanbamon one at a time.

"CROSS SLASH!" Zanbamon countered as he cut the attack apart with both of his swords.

"LICHT KUDGEL!" shouted Wolfmon. Taking aim with his arm-mounted laser, he fired a white ball of light at the Demon Man Digimon. The attack flew past the evil creature's defenses and smashed right into his chest.

"BREZZA PETALO!" shouted Fairymon. Creating a miniature tornado on the end of each finger, she flung all ten at Zanbamon.

"LIGHTNING BLITZ!" shouted Blitzmon. His horn sparked and he launched a powerful lightning bolt at the evil Digimon.

"SNOW BOMBER!" shouted Chakmon. Whipping out his snow cannon, he took aim and fired a barrage of snowballs.

"You think you can get me that easily?!" said Zanbamon. He quickly leapt out of the way of the first two attacks and deflected the third with his swords.

"ENDLICH METEOR!" shouted Löwemon. The lion head on his chest opened its mouth and he launched a powerful energy blast at Zanbamon, hitting him dead-on. Still, the evil Mega was not beaten.

"Not bad," said Zanbamon, "But you shall soon see that it was a mistake to even challenge me! PRISON GATE OF BEHEADING!" A light shone out from his horse head and he unleashed a powerful blast from both of his swords.

"Agnimon, all of you, quickly!" shouted Bokomon.

"Right!" said the Hybrids.

**__**

"Agnimon Slide Evolution! VRITRAMON!"

"Wolfmon Slide Evolution! GARMMON!"

"Fairymon Slide Evolution! SHUTUMON!"

"Blitzmon Slide Evolution! BOLGMON!"

"Chakmon Slide Evolution! BLIZZARMON!"

"Löwemon Slide Evolution! KAISERLEOMON!"

"So you're all Beast Hybrids now," Zanbamon scoffed, "I can still destroy you easily!"

"I don't think so," said Vritramon, "FLAME STORM!"

"SOLAR LASER!" shouted Garmmon.

"GILGAMESH SLICER!" shouted Shutumon.

"ULTIMATE THUNDER!" shouted Bolgmon.

"GLETSCHER TORPEDO!" shouted Blizzarmon.

"SCHWARZ DONNER!" shouted KaiserLeomon.

Together, all six attacks flew through the air straight at Zanbamon and crashed right into his chest, causing him to go dark and his Digicode to appear.

"Who's turn is it?" asked Bolgmon.

"I'll go," said Vritramon as he held out his D-Scan, "This Devil's spirit this Digivice will purify. DIGICODE SCAN!" Vritramon quickly scanned Zanbamon's Digicode and all the Hybrids devolved back into their human forms.

"They destroyed Zanbamon," said Dynasmon, who was standing next to RhodoKnightmon. The Royal Knights had been watching the battle from afar sizing up their opponents for the _n_th time.

"No matter what, we must still try," said RhodoKnightmon, "Lucemon must be revived."

The two Royal Knights quickly disappeared from sight, leaving the Chosen Children alone.

***

The six Chosen Children, along with Bokomon, Neemon, and Patamon, lazed around underneath the leaves of a few shady trees. Neemon was fast asleep, as was Patamon. Junpei was lying on the ground with his head against a tree root. Kouji sat underneath a tree staring out at the wide open field while his twin brother, Kouichi, was on the branch right above his head. Tomoki was sitting on another tree limb. Sitting on a lower branch on a different tree, Takuya and Izumi sat close to one another with their hats off, letting the cool breeze blow through their hair.

For quite a while now, Takuya had had his eye on Izumi and his feelings for her were deepening more and more. True she had slapped him silly a few times before, but Takuya was already beginning to be able to see the gentle soul that Izumi really was.

"What are you looking at?" asked Izumi, who had just caught Takuya staring.

"Uh, nothing!" said Takuya as he quickly averted his eyes, slightly blushing, "Just thinking."

"About what?" asked Izumi.

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Should I tell her how I feel? Takuya thought to himself, _If I do, I might get slapped. If I don't, she'll slap me eventually. Might as well come clean._

"Izumi, you know that feeling when you've got feelings for someone but you don't have the courage to tell them even though they're only about a foot away from you?" Takuya asked.

"Yes," said Izumi.

"Well when I first met you, I thought of you as nothing more than a part of the team," said Takuya, "But as time went on, I saw you as more than just that. And now… well… it's hard to describe, but I think I've fallen in love with you."

"You _think_?" Izumi asked.

"No," said Takuya, correcting himself, "I _know_ that I've fallen in love with you."

There was a brief pause while Takuya expected to be slapped across the face. But instead, he suddenly found himself wrapped in Izumi's arms.

"Takuya, I think I've fallen in love with you, too," said Izumi.

"Think?" asked Takuya, "Or know?"

"I know," said Izumi as she hugged Takuya tighter. Takuya returned a hug before the two of them switched positions on the branch so that Takuya had his back against the tree trunk and Izumi was leaning against his chest.

"Kouichi, what's going on up there?" Kouji asked, "I'm hearing something coming from Takuya and Izumi's tree."

"Not much. Just Takuya and Izumi switching positions so that Takuya's leaning against the trunk and Izumi's leaning against Takuya," replied Kouichi.

Takuya gently stroked Izumi's hair, enjoying every single moment of it.

"You know Takuya, I used to think that you were just a mindless brave idiot who would always leap before they looked," said Izumi.

"Thanks for the compliment," said Takuya, sarcastically.

"Now you've become the one person I really want to be with," said Izumi as she got off Takuya and changed her position so that she could see the boy face-to-face.

"_Molto bueno_," said Takuya. That certainly caught Izumi's ear quite easily. Apparently, Takuya had picked up some Italian from Izumi. The two of them stared into each other's eyes for a moment before they began to move closer to one another. Their lips almost touched when a suddenly explosion broke the peace, jolting both Chosen Children from their little dreamland.

"What's going on now?" asked Tomoki.

Takuya and Izumi both placed their headgear back on and climbed down the tree to join the others. Lightning flashed through the air as the sky began to darken. Powerful winds kicked up and thunder boomed throughout the area like explosives going off.

"This is some storm!" shouted Takuya as he pulled his goggles over his eyes.

"I don't think it's a storm!" replied Kouji, whose jacket and hair were now flapping wildly in the wind.

Powerful tornadoes swept up everything in their paths while blazing red cyclones of fire incinerated all that they touched. The ground was literally being torn up and torrential rains began to fall along with hail, some of which was accompanied by blazing fireballs.

"Great balls of fire!" exclaimed Takuya.

A massive black orb suddenly emerged from some sort of swirling black vortex and floated over to the Chosen Children.

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Chosen Children, said a voice.

"Who said that?" asked Junpei.

"I heard it, but I didn't hear it," said Kouichi.

"I heard it in my head," said Tomoki.

"Me, too," said Izumi.

"So, that thing is telepathic?" Takuya wondered.

The orb slowly began to descend to the ground. As it did so, its shape began to shift. It suddenly began to grow limbs.

"This looks bad!" said Takuya, "Everyone, let's all be ready!"

"SPIRIT EVOLUTION!" shouted Izumi, Junpei, Tomoki, and Kouichi.

**__**

"SHUTUMON!"

"BOLGMON!"

"BLIZZARMON!"

"LÖWEMON!"

Now it was Takuya and Kouji's turn. "DOUBLE SPIRIT EVOLUTION!" shouted the two boys.

**__**

"ARDHAMON!"

"BEOWULFMON!"

The six Hybrids watched as the orb took on the shape of a giant black monster with large horns, sharp claws, and long unruly hair. The image of a black heart could just be seen on the creature's chest.

"Let's get him!" said Ardhamon, "BRAHMA SUTRA!"

"LICHT ANGRIFF!" shouted Beowulfmon.

"WIND OF PAIN!" shouted Shutumon.

"FIELD DESTROYER!" shouted Bolgmon.

"AVALANCHE STEP!" shouted Blizzarmon.

"ENDLICH METEOR!" shouted Löwemon.

Six attacks flew at the massive creature. Six attacks collided with its body. But not one scratch was found on its body.

"Nothing!" exclaimed Ardhamon.

"We'll try again," said Beowulfmon. He tightened his grip around his sword before he rushed forward at the dark monster. "ZWEIHÄNDER!" He leapt up and swung his arm, cutting through the dark flesh with his twin blades.

"BRAHMA SHIL!" shouted Ardhamon. He created a massive fireball in both of his hands and launched it at the gargantuan shadow.

"That should do it," said Ardhamon. To everyone's surprise and dismay, the shadow was still alive.

"Guess we don't have a choice anymore," said Ardhamon.

"We don't," said Beowulfmon.

All six Hybrids devolved and Takuya and Kouji both prepared to do what they had to do.

"If this doesn't work, nothing will," said Bokomon.

"Then we'll just have to make sure it works," said Kouichi as he nodded towards his brother.

"Wind into Fire!" shouted Izumi.

"Ice into Fire!" shouted Tomoki.

"Thunder into Light!" shouted Junpei.

"Darkness into Light!" shouted Kouichi.

Takuya and Kouji held out their D-Scans and shouted, "HYPER SPIRIT EVOLUTION!"

**__**

"KAISERGREYMON!"

"MAGNAGARURUMON!"

The two Z-Hybrids turned and faced the shadow, both with their weapons drawn and ready to attack.

"MACHINEGUN DESTROY!" shouted MagnaGarurumon. He took aim with the Sniper Phantom and fired a barrage of missiles.

"NINE-HEADED DRAGON RANKS!" shouted KaiserGreymon as he plunged the Dragon Soul Sword into the ground, summoning nine fiery dragon heads. The heads circled around him for a while before launching themselves at the shadow, exploding against its hide alongside MagnaGarurumon's Machinegun Destroy.

"If that doesn't send it into unconsciousness, nothing will," said Kouichi as the watched the flames erupted into a massive pillar of fire. To everyone's horror, the monster was still alive and well.

"Time to move onto Plan C," said Bokomon, "RUN AWAY!"

"Don't have to tell us twice!" said Tomoki as the Chosen Children began to run away from the beast. The deadly creature suddenly held out its hand and the two Z-Hybrids suddenly devolved.

"What just happened?" asked Takuya, completely confused.

"That thing just stopped our abilities to Spirit Evolve!" exclaimed Kouji, gritting his teeth.

As the kids and three Digimon ran away, the shadow began to chase after them, destroying everything in its path and taking the Digicodes.

"We have to stop that thing!" shouted Bokomon.

"But how?!" asked Junpei.

"Anything!!!" screamed the book-carrying Digimon.

Tomoki suddenly tripped on a rock and fell forward.

"Tomoki!" shouted Takuya. The goggle boy quickly turned around and went back for Tomoki.

"Takuya, come back!" shouted Kouji.

"I have to save Tomoki!" Takuya shouted back. He was running as hard as he could. The shadow was approaching Tomoki fast.

"HELP!" screamed the second grader.

"I'm coming, Tomoki!" shouted Takuya. He knew he could make it just by running. Thinking fast, Takuya pushed himself off the ground and slid over to Tomoki.

"Takuya-oniichan!" Tomoki said, slightly worried and slightly relieved.

"Are you okay?" asked Takuya.

"I'm fine," said Tomoki, "Ow!"

"Tomoki," Takuya said as he slowly got up. He then turned around and crouched down, holding his arms out behind him. "Get on." Tomoki took one look at the incoming shadow and climbed onto Takuya's back. The Chosen Child of fire quickly got up and ran back to the others, carrying Tomoki.

"Let's go!" said Junpei.

As the Chosen Children continued to run, two massive black tendrils suddenly burst out of the ground in front of them, blocking their path. Looking back, they could see the shadow with its hand in the ground.

"We're trapped!" said Izumi.

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Give up, said a voice. The kids turned and looked around, but didn't see anybody. Their eyes finally fell on the shadow.

"Don't tell me this thing can talk, too," said Kouichi.

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Resistance is futile, said the shadow as it contacted all six kids via telepathy. A black tendril suddenly burst out from the ground and grabbed Junpei.

"Junpei!" said Kouichi just as another tendril grabbed his leg.

"Kouichi!" exclaimed Kouji. He quickly ran over and tried to free his brother, but to no avail.

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It's useless to fight! The shadow bellowed as it pulled its tendrils underground, taking Junpei and Kouichi down while dragging Kouji, who was still holding onto his brother.

"They're gone," said Tomoki.

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Not quite, said the shadow. It waved its hand in the air and three black crosses emerged from the ground. Junpei, Kouji, and Kouichi were all bound to them by their arms. Takuya, Izumi, and Tomoki couldn't tell if they were unconscious or possibly dead. They prayed that the first choice was the case.

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We have to do something, Takuya thought. Three of them were already down. He didn't want to lose anyone else.

"HELP!" came a scream. Takuya turned just in time to see Bokomon, Neemon, and Patamon get dragged down. The three of then were then dragged back out and bound to a dead tree.

"Takuya, we're losing fast!" said Tomoki.

"I know," said Takuya. Suddenly he heard a scream and turned just in time to see Izumi get grabbed by the shadow's hand and pulled away.

"Help!" screamed Tomoki as he was lifted off Takuya's back.

"IZUMI! TOMOKI!" shouted Takuya. He clenched his fist. He had just lost the two people he cared about the most.

"Save yourself!" called Izumi.

"I can't leave you!" cried Takuya.

"GO TAKUYA!" shouted Izumi, "If you're not around to save us, then there's no hope for any of us!"

Takuya knew that Izumi was right. Regretfully, he forced himself to turn around and run away. Tears streamed down his face as he ran, knowing he could have done something, but couldn't. After running quite a ways, he stopped to catch his breath. As he did so, he looked back only to see a giant explosion erupt from where the shadow had captured his friends.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" screamed Takuya.

The boy dropped to his hands and knees and started crying. He could have helped his friends. He could have saved them. But he didn't. And that was what really crushed Takuya – the fact that he could have done something but didn't. he started to mentally stab his chest for letting everything go wrong. As he continued to cry, one of his tears fell and landed on his D-Scan, which had somehow fallen out of his pocket, causing the Digivice to glow. Takuya looked up at it with tears still in his eyes.

"What's going on?" he said to himself. His D-Scan shot out a beam of light and the H and B Spirits of Fire appeared. The two spirits burned as a trail of flames from each slowly made its way towards Takuya. The flames met and began to take on a solid physical form. A short while later, a bright red crystal attached to a red lanyard appeared. Takuya dried his tears as he picked up the crystal and held it up for a closer look while holding his D-Scan in the other. Looking closer, Takuya could see the Chinese character for "fire" inside. He thought he also saw live flames burning inside the stone

"What is this?" he asked. Suddenly, the shadow appeared behind Takuya and the Chosen Child turned only to find him face-to-foot with the creature.

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Only one more left to go, it said as it closed in.

Takuya braced himself for what was to come. Suddenly, there was a bright red glow of light followed by a loud scream. Then, everything went black.

***

Takuya awoke to find himself lying in what seemed to be a hospital bed. as his vision began to return, he could see that he was in a white room with fluorescent lights on the ceiling and sunlight streaming in from the windows. He could just make out other beds on either side of him. He soon realized that he was clad only in his cargo pants. Groaning, Takuya raised his arm to rub his head only to find that it had been bandaged. His arms, torso, and undoubtedly his legs had also been bandaged.

"You feeling any better?"

Upon hearing that voice, Takuya slowly sat up and looked around the room. His eyes soon fell onto a figure who was seated by the window, staring outside.

"Where am I?" asked Takuya.

"You're at the infirmary of ADI headquarters," said the person.

"ADI?" asked Takuya.

"**A**nime **D**efense **I**nitiative," answered the figure. He got out from his seat and approached Takuya. The boy could see that the person was a boy around the age of fourteen with brown hair and sapphire-blue eyes. He was dressed in brown cargo pants and a red turtleneck sweater.

"Who are you?" asked Takuya.

"My name's Ryo Akiyama," said the boy.

"Takuya Kanbara," Takuya replied. He tried to raise his arm in order to shake hands, but it only caused jolts of pain to surge through his body.

"Try not to move your arm too much," said Ryo.

Takuya put his arm down and placed his head back down on the pillow.

"How did I get here?" asked the Chosen Child.

"It's a long story," said Ryo as he pulled up a chair and sat down.

Just then, there was a beep and the door leading to the hallway outside slid open. A blond boy with blue eyes wearing a red T-shirt, blue pants, two bracelets, and a white apron walked in. in his hands was a tray carrying a covered plate and a plastic spoon.

"Glad to see the patient's awake," he said as he walked over to the bed, "How are you feeling?"

"Don't ask," said Takuya.

"Are you hungry?" asked the blond boy. The sound of Takuya's stomach growling answered his question. Takuya slowly sat up as Ryo readjusted his pillow so that Takuya could lean against it. The boy brought the tray over to a wheeled hospital table and placed it on before wheeling it over to Takuya.

"I think you'll like it," said Ryo, "Albert is the best chef this place has."

"Here it is," said Albert as he took the cover off the plate, "One plate of fried rice."

"Smells good," said Takuya. He picked up the spoon and took a bit of the rice, which he placed into his mouth. He chewed for a bit and swallowed before his eyes suddenly lit up.

"Well?" Albert asked.

"This tastes great!" said Takuya as he took another spoonful into his mouth.

"I'm glad you like it," said Albert.

"You must be _really_ hungry," said Ryo, "Can't blame you, though. You've been asleep for four days now."

At the sound of Ryo's words, Takuya nearly choked on his rice, but Albert was able to get him a glass of water to drink.

"F-f-f-four days?" Takuya stammered after he wiped the water away from his mouth.

"Four days," Ryo repeated.

"W-w-what happened?" asked Takuya, "The last thing I remember was a giant shadow looming over me and a strange red light."

"It was weird, but not surprising," answered Ryo as he began to explain.

**__**

***FLASHBACK***

The shadow appeared behind Takuya and the Chosen Child turned only to find him face-to-foot with the creature.

Only one more left to go_, it said as it closed in._

Takuya braced himself for what was to come. Suddenly, there was a bright red glow of light followed by a loud scream.

What is this?!?!_ cried the shadow as it backed away._

The stone that the unconscious Takuya held in his hand was glowing bright red. Right at that moment some sort of interdimensional wormhole appeared and out came a Digimon clad in a white and bluish-purple suit, a red scarf, and armor with a metallic right arm.

"I am Justimon!" said the Digimon, "By the order of the ADI, I cannot allow you to take this boy's life!"

And who will stop me?_ asked the shadow._

Justimon suddenly switched to a much larger arm and held the hand above his head.

"ACCEL. ARM!" he shouted. He slammed his palm against the ground and sent a wave of energy right at the shadow, hitting it.

Curses!_ said the shadow. It returned fire and managed to score a hit on Justimon. But just before the massive black monster could continue, the crystal Takuya held flashed a bright red light and a massive fiery phoenix emerged and screeched. The phoenix flew high into the air and circled around for a bit before coming down, flying straight at the shadow. The fiery bird collided with the dark monster and completely obliterated it._

"So this is the power of the stones," said Justimon as he watched.

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***END FLASHBACK***

"So that's what happened," said Takuya between mouthfuls of fried rice.

"The Blackhearted will stop at nothing to achieve their goal," said Ryo.

"The Blackhearted?" Takuya asked curiously.

"The Blackhearted are a band of evil beings that infiltrate various universes and try to either take them over of destroy them," said a new voice. Takuya turned towards the door to see a boy with blue triangles on his face wearing a white scarf around his neck.

"Any news about the other stone holders, Kai?" Ryo asked.

"Other than this kid, only two more have just arrived," answered Kai as he tossed his Beyblade up and down in his hand.

"Others?" Takuya asked.

"You'll meet them later," said Ryo, "In the meantime, you better rest."

Takuya finished off his rice and Albert took the tray and the empty plate away. As the goggle boy settled back down, his eyes fell onto the red crystal, which he had received.

"Hey Ryo," he said.

"Yeah?" answered Ryo.

"What this?" asked Takuya as he took the crystal into his hand and held it up for Ryo to see.

"That's your elemental power," Ryo replied.

"Elemental power?" wondered Takuya.

"You possess the Pyro Stone," said Ryo, "It's magic grants you the power of fire."

"Fire," Takuya said softly to himself. His mind began to go back to the day he first entered the Digital World and came to possess the Legendary Spirit of Fire. Setting the Pyro Stone back onto the table, Takuya laid back down in bed and closed his eyes. He tried to sleep, but several thoughts kept plaguing his mind.

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Why? he thought to himself, _All of them, gone. Bokomon. Neemon. Patamon. Kouichi. Kouji. Junpei. Tomoki. Izumi._ A tear rolled down Takuya's cheek as Izumi came to his mind.

"Sleep well, Takuya," said Ryo as he began to leave with Kai, "You'll need it." He stopped at the door for a moment and switched off the lights before exiting the room and letting the door slide closed, leaving Takuya alone in the room.

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Izumi. Tomoki. All you guys. I promise I'll find and save you all, thought Takuya as he began to drift off into sleep.

**__**

TO BE CONTINUED…

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NEXT TIME:

Takuya finally meets the other stone holders and together, they finally come face-to-face with the leader of the ADI. But who are the Blackhearted? And what do they want? All the answers in the next chapter of _United We Stand, Divided We Fall_.

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Read and review, folks!


	2. Duel in Domino City!

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Disclaimer: I do not own any of the animé shows or other Japanese classics that will appear on this fanfic.

However, I do own the league of evil called the Blackhearted AND the Black Chaos Dragon.

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UNITED WE STAND AS ONE

Meeting the Team. Duel in Domino City!

Takuya awoke as the sunlight that streamed in from the window fell upon his face. He took a moment to look around like he always did every morning only to find that he was in the infirmary of ADI headquarters.

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So it wasn't a bad dream, after all, thought Takuya. As he sat up, he realized that most of his bandages had been removed. His arms and torso were no longer wrapped up and the bandage that covered his cheek was gone, too. He lifted up his hand close to his face and flexed his fingers before clenching his hand into a fist.

"Glad to see you're awake." Takuya looked in the direction of the voice. He saw a boy with brown hair wearing green clothes, along with a blue vest, a blue and yellow cap, and a pair of fingerless black and turquoise gloves. Next to him was some sort of furry yellow creature with red circles on its cheeks, two pointed ears, a thunderbolt-shaped tail, and a tuft of fur projecting off its head.

"Yeah, I'm fine," said Takuya.

"That's good," said the boy, "My name's Richie and this is Sparky."

"Pikachu," said the little yellow creature, whose name was Sparky.

"Takuya Kanbara," said Takuya as he introduced himself.

"Nice to meet you, Takuya," said Richie as he shook his head, "Anyway, I gotta go. Oh, by the way, there's going to be a meeting held in the library soon, you better get there quickly. See you later." And with that, Richie left with Sparky on his head, leaving the goggle boy in the room alone.

Takuya got out of bed and managed to make is way to the chair where his shirts, cap, and goggles were. He slipped his yellow T-shirt over his head and pulled his red one overtop of it before putting on his socks and tying on his shoes. Takuya slipped on his gloves and placed his cap on his still-bandaged head. After snapping his goggles on, Takuya turned to head out the door. Just as his finger reached out to presses the OPEN button, his eyes fell on the object sitting on the table next to the bed. The Pyro Stone. Takuya picked up the red crystal and looked into it. The live flame he had thought he had seen earlier inside of it was gone. Shrugging, he slipped the red lanyard over his head and let the Pyro Stone hang from around his neck. After making sure that his D-Scan was in his pocket, he pushed the button, opened the door, and stepped out into the hallway…

…and promptly ran right into someone else.

"Watch where you're going, kid!" said a gruff voice.

"Watch where **_I'M_** going?! You ran right into me!" said Takuya. The boy got up off the floor and looked up at a man around the age if eighteen with brown hair and blue eyes. He was dressed in black clothes and a long white sleeveless coat with red lining. Around his neck on a yellow lanyard was a yellow crystal.

"Hey, you've got a stone, too!" Takuya exclaimed.

"And I see you do, too," said the man.

"Yeah, mine's the Pyro Stone of Fire," said Takuya before holding his hand out, "My name's Takuya Kanbara."

"And I'm Seto Kaiba," said the man, not taking Takuya' hand, "I possess the Blitz Stone of Thunder."

Takuya put down his hand after Kaiba refused to shake it before saying, "So, were you just headed to the library."

"As a matter of fact, yes," said Kaiba as he continued to walk down the path he was going.

"Hey, wait for me," said Takuya as he followed the duelist. As they walked through the corridors of the base, Takuya came across a familiar face.

"So, what do you think so far, Takuya?" Albert asked as he walked alongside Takuya.

"Well, I have absolutely no idea where the library is, so I'm just following this guy, Kaiba," said Takuya.

"Well, all you have to do is follow the signs," said Albert.

"Oh," said Takuya as he looked on the walls.

"Albert, why don't you introduce me?" said a voice. Takuya turned around to see a white robot with two large horns wearing a white silk cape walking just behind Albert. Around his neck was a grey stone on a grey lanyard.

"Takuya, this is Rokusho, the holder of the Mecha Stone of Steel," Albert introduced, "Rokusho, this is Takuya Kanbara, the holder of the Pyro Stone of fire."

"Pleased to meet you," said Rokusho as he and Takuya shook hands.

"The pleasure is all mine," said Takuya. It was at that moment that he noticed something on Rokusho's right arm. It was some kind of golden sword, which caused Takuya's eyes to go wide considering that it was practically pointed at his face.

"Sorry," said Rokusho as he saw the look on Takuya's face, "This sword is part of my body. It can't be removed."

"That's…okay," Takuya said uneasily.

The group soon arrived at the library. Upon entry, all three stone holders were amazed by how many books there were. Bookshelves covered the walls from ceiling to floor. A few spiral staircases led up to small balconies to reach some of the high shelves. But even then, the balconies also had ladders on wheels, much like the ones on the first level. The only wall free of books was the one opposite from the door from which the group had just entered. Hanging on it was a large painting. Below that was an enormous fireplace with chair and tables around it and a small bowling ball-sized objected wrapped in a blue cloth, which stood near the fire. As the group neared the fireplace, they saw a young woman with long dark hair and glasses sitting in one of the chair reading a book.

"Is that a good book you're ready?" Rokusho asked the woman.

"Yes, it is," she said.

"You must love books very much," Rokusho commented, seeing as how absorbed the woman was into her book.

"I do, indeed," said the woman.

"My name is Rokusho," said the white Medabot, introducing himself.

"My name is Yomiko Readman," said the woman. As she moved her book a bit to turn the page, Kaiba got a glimpse of pink crystal on a pink lanyard around her neck.

"That's a stone!" exclaimed the owner of Kaiba Corp.

"The man said that this is the Strato Stone of Wind," said Yomiko.

"Which man?" asked Rokusho.

Meanwhile, Takuya walked over to the fireplace. He bent down to move the cloth-covered object from the fireplace, intending to get it out of the way in case a spark flew.

"Please, do not touch me," said a voice. Takuya pulled back and the object turned around. It wasn't a cheap decoration, after all. It was some sort of armored creature the shape and size of a bowling ball wrapped up in a blue cape.

"I am Meta Knight," said the creature.

"Takuya Kanbara," said Takuya, "So I guess you must have gotten a stone, too."

"The water powers of the Aqua Stone," replied Meta Knight.

"Nice to meet you," said Takuya.

Just then, the soft sound of a small wind instrument could be heard playing. Everyone turned to see a man with blond hair, blue eyes, and pointed ears dressed in a green tunic, a green cap, leather boots, leather gauntlets, and white clothes underneath the green tunic playing some sort of musical instrument. He stopped for a moment and looked at everyone else. Rokusho clapped his hands for the young man.

"That was a nice tune," said Rokusho.

"Thank you," said the man as he stood up. Around his neck was a light-blue stone.

"So, what stone is that?" asked Takuya.

"This is the Chrono Stone of Time," said the man, "My name is Link."

Not far away from where Yomiko sat was a girl with short dark blue hair reading a book. She wore the uniform of a Japanese schoolgirl and she had some sort of pink wand-like object in her pocket. Around her neck was an icy-blue crystal.

"Oh, hello," she said, "I didn't notice you as you walked in. My name is Ami."

"Pleases to meet you," said the others.

"So, which power were you given?" asked Kaiba.

"Well, this is supposed to be the Cryo Stone of Ice," said Ami as she set her book aside.

"Anyway, I better be getting back to the kitchen," said Albert, "The chief will be here soon, so find something to read or something." And with that, Albert left the library.

It wasn't long before a boy with brown hair and a sword dressed in an odd green costume walked in accompanied by Ryo and a black-haired man wearing a white uniform. The boy had a green stone around his neck while the man had a white one.

"Everyone, I'd like to introduce you to two more stone holders," said Ryo. First, he gestured towards the boy. "This is Li Syaoran from Reedington. That stone around his neck is the Arbor Stone of Wood."

"Hi," said Takuya, being the first to respond.

"And this is Daigo Madoka," said Ryo, "And that's the Spark Stone of Light around his neck."

"Hi," said Daigo.

"Which means we're now only missing a few more people," said Ryo, causing everyone to fall over.

"Could you at least try to be more specific?!" said Kaiba.

"I don't know. Three to seven, maybe," said Ryo.

Meanwhile, Takuya had found an interesting book and sat down on the couch to read it. He soon became as oblivious to his surroundings as Yomiko until he noticed a shadow blocking his light. Looking up, he could see a man around the age of eighteen with lavender hair wearing black clothes, a blue jacket, and carrying a sword on his back. Around his neck was a silver crystal.

"You must be another stone holder," said Takuya.

"Good guess, kid," said the man, "It's right around my neck."

"I know," said Takuya, "I'm Takuya."

"My name is Trunks," said the man, "and I possess the Lunar Stone of Moon."

"Moon?" Kaiba asked, "What exactly is that supposed to do?"

Before Trunks could respond, the door opened and Kai entered accompanied by a fourteen-year-old boy with dark hair dressed in a white shirt and black pants and a young man with a blue top, white, pants, a red hood, and a sword.

"Here are the two that arrived around the same time as the goggle kid, Ryo," said Kai, "This teenaged punk is Shinji Ikari. He possesses the Destiny Stone of Fate."

"Hey, don't call me things like that," said Shinji.

"And this is Ashitaka, holder of the Spirit Stone. Its power is self-explanatory," said Kai.

"Greetings," said Ashitaka.

"Alright, everyone's here. So where's the leader?" Kai asked as he leaned his back against a wall.

"He'll be here," said Richie upon entering the library with Sparky now on his shoulder.

As they waited for the arrival of the ADI's leader, Albert re-entered the room with a large tray covered with china teacups and a large pot of tea.

"Tea, anyone?" he offered as he poured everyone a bit of the hot drink.

"Thanks," said all the stone holders as they each took a cup and sat down.

"Hey, where did Yomiko go?" asked Takuya. He felt someone tap his shoulder and he turned around to face Link, who was pointing up towards the side. Takuya looked and saw Yomiko among the stacks pulling out books and piling them all in her arms.

"She must really like books," said Li.

"I think 'obsessed' is a better word to use," said Rokusho.

As everyone talked amongst each other, exchanging stories and learning more about each other, the doors opened once again and in walked a man in his mid-thirties or so with a red cloak over his shoulders. He had spiked brown hair with a few strands falling over his face. Beneath the cloak, he wore a suit of blue leather armor, a pair of black boots, and a pair of brown leather gauntlets.

"Everyone, I'd like to introduce you all to the leader of the Anime Defense Initiative," announced Ryo, causing everyone to look in his direction.

"At the moment, you may call me the Otaku," said the cloaked man.

"Otaku? That sounds more like an evil alias," said Rokusho.

"So why did you bring us here?" Daigo asked.

"I shall explain everything," said Otaku as he sat down, "Long ago in ancient times, there lived a great evil whose name has been forbidden from being mentioned ever again, so don't ask me what his name is. Anyway, he came to possess the Omega Stone – a crystal so powerful that it could destroy the universe if placed into the wrong hands. The sorcerer tried to harness its power and ended up becoming a being of great power. However, my ancient ancestor, Hikari Otaku, was able to steal the Omega Stone. He split the Stone into sixteen different pieces and scattered them all over the universe, hoping that the evil would never be able to put them back together. Each piece contained a different power and each one contained a different anime spirit. The demon was then sealed in a mystical realm by Hikari Otaku, who sacrificed his life to do so."

"So these stones are all part of the Omega Stone?" Shinji asked.

"Yes," replied Otaku, "But now the demon has returned and the pieces of the Omega Stone have been given to you. Each stone has its own special power and beast. Tell me, what are each of your stones' powers?"

"Well, mine is Fate," answered Shinji.

"Water," said Meta Knight.

"Time," said Link.

"Light," said Daigo.

"Mine is Ice," said Ami.

"Spirit," replied Ashitaka.

"Wood," said Li.

"Steel," answered Rokusho.

"Wind," said Yomiko, who had finally finished stacking her arms with books.

"Thunder," said Kaiba.

"Moon," said Trunks, "although that doesn't tell me much at the moment."

"Fire," replied Takuya.

"Hang on a second. That only makes twelve of us," said Shinji.

"He's right," added Trunks, "There's supposed to be sixteen in total. Which means that four stone are missing."

"What?!" exclaimed Otaku.

***

A lone figure stood in the shadows completely concealed from sight as he watched world after world being destroyed. All around him, viewscreens displayed burning wastelands, war-torn worlds, and countless victims. The figure grinned. As he continued to watch the mass destruction, legions of Blackhearted minions were bringing in captives to be converted into Blackhearted, themselves.

"Everything is going as planned." A massive shadow appeared on the wall behind the figure with red glowing eyes and a bright red mouth.

"I expected just as much, Cherubimon," said the figure, not removing his eyes from the viewscreens. Cherubimon had been one of the beings who had become a Blackhearted _willingly_, hence he wasn't under the complete control of the demon.

"If everything goes well, nothing will stand in the way of the Blackhearted," said a new voice, which happened to belong to a teenager with long white hair. He was dressed in blue jeans, a blue and white striped T-shirt, a green unbuttoned T-shirt overtop, and some sort of golden ring with five spikes and a pyramid in the center worn around his neck by a string.

"Bakura," said the demon, recalling the name.

"Malik believes that the time has come to strike," continued Yami Bakura, "But you may speak to him if you wish." At that moment, a teen with a large mass of spiky greyish-white hair and the Eye of Anubis glowing in the center of his forehead appeared. He wore a long purple cloak over his shoulders and he was carrying some sort of artifact in his hand.

"Now would indeed be a good time to strike," said Yami Malik as two black creatures rolled in a man, who was strapped to a table with wheels. The evil spirit grinned as he clutched the Millennium Rod in his hand. With one tug, he freed the artifact's blade from its sheath.

"For," continued Yami Malik, "if we were to wait, we could be run down very quickly. The best thing to do is to attack the throat while we can." And with that, Yami Malik raised the Millennium Rod and plunged the blade deep into the man's throat, silencing him forever.

***

Back at ADI headquarters, Takuya had just jumped off the diving board and landed in the swimming pool of the base's recreation center, which some of the staff dubbed as part of the extremely large training center. The boy resurfaced and lifted his goggles away from his eyes. However, his mind was still troubled.

"Hey, you okay?" Li asked, who was also trying to enjoy a good swim.

"Yeah, I've just got a lot on my mind right now," answered Takuya.

"You behind left someone you love, didn't you?" said Li.

"How do you know?" Takuya asked, slightly bewildered.

"Because I had to do the exact same thing," replied Li.

***

Red lights started flashing and a loud alarm started blaring. One by one, or in small groups, all the members of the ADI reached the command room, where Otaku sat in a large chair.

"What's up?" asked Trunks.

"We've got a problem in one of the worlds," answered Otaku, "Richie, pinpoint the location. Ryo, run a scan for any familiar Blackhearted. Jim, go get the transdimensional portal ready."

"So, what's the problem?" asked Takuya. As if to answer his question, three viewscreens suddenly popped out from thin air in front of Otaku, each with the face of the person whom Otaku had just contacted.

"Sir, this Blackhearted doesn't register in our files," said Ryo.

"Alright. Richie, where is the target?" demanded Otaku.

"Just two more seconds," said Richie, "Here we go. Location: Domino City."

"That's my hometown!" Kaiba exclaimed.

"The portal is ready, Sir," said Jim. (A/N: Yes, this is Jim from _Outlaw Star_.)

"Move out, then!" ordered Otaku. The twelve stone holders quickly nodded and ran off towards the portal room.

***

**__**

DOMINO CITY

A large swirling vortex suddenly appeared out of the blue and the twelve stone holders emerged with Kaiba in the lead. The wealthy CEO walked past all the fallen buildings and debris until he stopped at one particular building.

"Kaiba Corp.," Ami read the sign over the door.

"Kaiba, does your family own a company or something?" asked Shinji.

"**I** own the company," said Kaiba as he scanned the area.

__

Mokuba, I know you're still alive. Just hang on, little brother. If I could help you before, I an do it again, thought the duelist.

"Seto Kaiba!" a voice boomed out. A swirling black mass appeared and materialized into dark figure completely covered in a black hooded cloak. Its yellow eyes pierced through the darkness that its face was hidden in.

"What do you want?" Kaiba asked.

"I just wanted to see if you truly are the best duelist in the world," said the figure.

"I have no time for games!" Kaiba shot back, "I'm here to save my brother!"

"You mean Mokuba?" the cloaked figure asked slyly, which caused Kaiba to change his tone.

"What have you done to Mokuba?" Kaiba asked.

"Nothing yet," replied the figure, "But here's how it works. We shall duel. If you win, Mokuba goes free. If I win, you surrender the Blitz Stone and join the Blackhearted."

"Kaiba, don't do it," said Daigo.

"Stay out of this!" snapped Kaiba before turning to the cloaked Blackhearted, "I accept."

"Excellent," said the Blackhearted. He snapped his fingers and he and Kaiba suddenly appeared on the roof of Kaiba Corp. headquarters.

Meanwhile, down on the ground, the others just looked up.

"We have to do something," said Ashitaka.

But before any of them could make a move, several black creatures appeared. They were all about two feet tall with yellow glowing eyes.

"These things must be Blackhearted," Trunks observed.

"We'll deal with these guys first, then help Kaiba," said Rokusho as he threw aside his cape. He and the other four sword users all drew their weapons and stood ready.

"MERCURY CRYSTAL POWER!" shouted Ami, transforming her into Sailor Mercury.

"SPIRIT EVOLUTION!" shouted Takuya.

**__**

"AGNIMON!"

Daigo reached into his GUTS uniform and produced the Spark Lens. Holding it up, the sides opened and the crystal flashed, transforming him into the warrior of light, Ultraman Tiga. But instead of being a giant as he usually was, he was human sized.

"Let's do it!" said Trunks. And with that, he flew into battle and began slashing at the minions with the Z-Sword.

"CHANBARA SWORD!" shouted Rokusho. He went from one minion to another, slashing every single one with his golden arm-mounted weapon.

"ELEMENT LIGHTNING! COME TO MY AID!" shouted Li. He threw the incantation into the air and pressed the hilt of his sword against it, sending bolts of lightning at the Blackhearted. Meanwhile, Agnimon smashed his fists together and created two swirling flames around his arms.

"BURNING SALMANDER!" shouted the Legendary Warrior of Fire. He drew back each fist and threw them forward, firing each attack at the minions.

"MERCURY AQUA RHAPSODY!" shouted Sailor Mercury. Her attack destroyed several minions, but only to succeed in bringing more in.

"Everyone out of the way!" shouted Link. Everyone backed away as Link performed some sort of arm motion. He suddenly slammed his palm into the ground and created a dome of fire around him, which spread outward, killing several Blackhearted minions.

Meanwhile, Yomiko stood with her briefcase open. She grabbed sheets of paper from it on occasion and threw them at the minions, seriously cutting them.

"I hope Kaiba's doing okay," said Shinji.

***

"Are you ready?" asked the Blackhearted duelist.

"Let's just get this over with," said Kaiba. He placed his dueling system onto his arm and slid his deck in. the card zones snapped together and the Life Points were set. The Blackhearted suddenly pushed aside his cloak to reveal a dueling system on his arm.

"Time to duel!" shouted both duelists as they each drew their first five cards.

(A/N: Please note that I'll be using Battle City rules.)

****

Kaiba: 4000 / **Blackhearted:** 4000

"I'll begin with these," said the Blackhearted. First, he placed a monster in facedown defense position. Then he placed two cards into the Magic/Trap slots and the holograms of two facedown cards appeared.

"Now it's my turn," said Kaiba as he drew his first card, "I'll begin by place one card facedown and then playing my Battle Ox in attack mode! And now I'll have it attack your facedown monster! AXE SLAM ATTACK!" The Battle Ox raised its mighty ax and brought it down on the Blackhearted's monster, which turned out to be a Griggle.

"It's still earl in the duel," said the Blackhearted as he drew a card, "First, I play the Blue-Winged Crown in attack mode! Next, I'll play this field card: Mountain, which increases my monster's attack power from 1600 to 1800. And now Blue-Winged Crown, attack with Blue Wing Beating!"

"Not so fast!" said Kaiba, "I laid down a Trap Card, which I'm activating now!" said Kaiba, "Reverse Trap!" The holographic card rose up so that it faced the Blackhearted.

"Reverse Trap?! That reverses increases and decreases in all monsters' powers for one turn!" exclaimed the Blackhearted.

"Correct," said Kaiba, "meaning your Blue-Winged Crown has been reduced to 1400 attack power!"

The two of them watched as the Blue-Winged Crown attacked the Battle Ox, only to have itself destroyed.

****

Kaiba: 4000 / **Blackhearted:** 3700

"Very impressive, Kaiba," said the Blackhearted, "But let's see how long you can keep up your winning streak." The cloaked evil reached for his deck and drew a card. "Let's see if your Battle Ox can handle this monster." He put the card facedown in defense mode.

"I don't plan to attack it with my Battle Ox," said Kaiba as he drew his next card, "For now I sacrifice it and send out the Judge Man!" With those words said, the Battle Ox was destroyed and the powerful Judge Man emerged. The megaton monster advanced and brought its clubs down on the Blackhearted's monster, which turned out to be a Giant Soldier of Stone.

"A lucky shot," said the Blackhearted. He drew his next card and laid it facedown in defense mode.

"Are you just going to keep defending?" Kaiba asked, "Stop wasting my time like this. I'll equip the Judge Man with Invigoration, raising his attack power to 2600 and lowering his defense to 2000. Now Judge Man, attack with Double Megaton Club Bash now!" The monster followed Kaiba's command and brought down its clubs, destroying a Giant Rat.

"You destroyed my Giant Rat, which means I may select one monster from my Deck with an attack power of 1500 or lower and summon it onto the field in attack mode," said the Blackhearted. He ran through his deck until he found the card he was looking for. Then he shuffled his cards and reinserted them into the card reader before placing out his card. "Labyrinth Wall!" As soon as his card touched the surface of the duel system, massive stone walls emerged and stood tall.

"And my turn ends," said Kaiba.

"First I draw," said the Blackhearted, "Next, I'll switch my Labyrinth Wall into defense mode. And then, I place this card in defense mode."

"This duel won't go anywhere if you keep defending," said Kaiba as he drew, "Now I'll place one card facedown and throw down Ryu-Kishin Powered in attack mode." Upon the world Duel Monsters champion's words, the mentioned monster appeared alongside the powerful Judge Man.

"Ryu-Kishin Powered, huh?" the Blackhearted muttered to himself.

"Ryu-Kishin Powered, Razor Claw Slash attack!" Kaiba ordered. His monster leapt forward and slashed at the Blackhearted's facedown monster.

"You attacked my Guardian of the Throne Room!" said the Blackhearted as his monster was revealed, "Its defense points are 1600, equal to the attack power of your Ryu-Kishin Powered. So no damage as been done. And now it is my turn." The cloaked being reached down to his deck and drew one card from it.

__

I wonder what that creep is thinking right now, Kaiba thought as he waited with his arms crossed. Finally his opponent moved.

"I shall sacrifice my Guardian of the Throne Room and bring out the Twin-Headed Fire Dragon!" announced the Blackhearted. The yellow tank was immediately destroyed and out came a massive red dragon with two heads and a clawed tail. "Twin-Headed Fire Dragon, DUAL INFERNO ATTACK!" The mythical creature opened both of its mouths and fired, each spewing a stream of hot flames at Kaiba's Ryu-Kishin Powered, destroying it."

****

Kaiba: 3400 / **Blackhearted:** 3700

"That was a fatal mistake," said Kaiba as he drew, "For now I send the Judge Man to attack your Twin-Headed Fire Dragon! TWIN MEGATON CLUB BASH!"

The Blackhearted, however, was not afraid. "In attacking my monster, you have activated a Trap Card: Spellbinding Circle!"

Kaiba could only watch as his monster was ensnared by the trap and his attack points lowered from 2600 down to 1900. He grimaced at the idea of what was going to happen next.

"Now it's my turn again. Twin-Headed Fire Dragon, DUAL INFERNO ATTACK!" ordered the Blackhearted. Once again, the monster opened its mouths and fired, obliterating Kaiba's Judge Man.

****

Kaiba: 3100 / **Blackhearted:** 3700

Kaiba slowly drew his next card and looked at it. He then turned towards his opponent. "First, I place this card facedown and place a monster in defense mode," he announced, "Next, I'll play the Ookazi card!"

"Ookazi?" the Blackhearted wondered.

"Ookazi is a Magic Card that takes off 800 of your Life Points directly," Kaiba explained.

****

Kaiba: 3100 / **Blackhearted:** 2900

"This isn't over yet," said the hooded duelist, "Twin-Headed Fire Dragon, attack now!"

"Not so fast! I'm activating a Trap Card, as well," said Kaiba, "Say hello to the Dragon Capture Jar!"

"WHAT?!" screamed the Blackhearted. He watched as his creature was taken into the ceramic jar and sealed up inside it.

"And now that you've attacked, it's my turn," said Kaiba. He drew his card and looked at it. It was one of his beloved Blue-Eyes White Dragons, but he couldn't play it then since he only had one monster on the field. He took a quick look at the other cards in his hands and a strategy came to him quickly. But instead of executing it right away, he simply laid one card in defense mode and ended his turn.

Desperately, the Blackhearted duelist drew his next card and sighed with relief. "I play Remove Trap!" He placed his card onto the field and destroyed the Dragon Capture Jar, freeing his Twin-Headed Fire Dragon. "Next, I sacrifice my dragon and my Labyrinth Wall to summon Garnecia Elefantis in attack mode!" Upon those words, both creatures were destroyed and the massive purple elephant emerged.

"Garnecia Elefantis?!" Kaiba gasped. It was a super rare card and it was also one of the strongest Beast-Warrior monsters in the whole game.

"Garnecia, go! IVORY SABER SLASH!" shouted the Blackhearted. The massive elephant lumbered over to one of Kaiba's facedown cards. It looked like it was going to be a hit until the mighty creature suddenly fell through a hole in the ground.

"You amateur!" said Kaiba, "You fell into another trap: Trap Hole!" The massive monster was destroyed and Kaiba discarded his Trap Hole into the Graveyard. It was his turn once again. Drawing another card, he saw that he had drawn his second Blue-Eyes White Dragon and looked at his hand once again.

"This duel is about to end!" said the top-ranked duelist, "First, I play the Lord of Dragons in attack mode! Next, I'll activate this Magic Card: The Flute of Summoning Dragon, which allows me to summon two dragons from my hand. So now, let them be revealed!" Kaiba slammed his two cards onto his duel system and his two Blue-Eyes White Dragons appeared and roared loudly.

__

So, these are the legendary Blue-Eyes White Dragons, thought the Blackhearted.

__

All I need now is my third Blue-Eyes and I'll be able to fuse them with this Polymerization card, Kaiba thought to himself.

"Go Blue-Eyes White Dragons," ordered Kaiba, "WHITE LIGHTNING ATTACK!" Both dragons powered up and launched a powerful sparking beam of energy at the Blackhearted, aimed directly at his Life Points.

"Activating Waboku!" announced the dark duelist. His card was turned up and three women dressed in light-blue robes appeared, blocking Kaiba's attack.

"You're only delaying the inevitable," said Kaiba.

"We'll see," said the Blackhearted. He drew a card and placed it onto the field in defense mode.

"That was fast," said Kaiba as he drew his next card. It was his third and final Blue-Eyes White Dragon. But instead of playing it, he set a Trap Card down and waited as he watched his opponent draw his next card.

"Looks like it's all over for you, Seto Kaiba," said the Blackhearted, "I play Dark Hole!"

"Not so fast!" said Kaiba, "I activate Magic Jammer! I'll discard one card from my hand to stop you from using that Dark Hole." He reached into his hand and pulled his third Blue-Eyes White Dragon out and sent it into the Graveyard.

"Well played," commented the Blackhearted, "I guess I can just throw my only card in my hand onto the field in defense mode. And I'll activate the Gamble Trap Card, calling heads in the process!" A massive hand appeared and flipped a large coin. The coin bounced for a moment before landing with the heads side up. Smiling, the Blackhearted drew from his deck until he had a total of five cards in his hand.

"Well then," said Kaiba, "I play Monster Reborn and bring back my Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" Kaiba's third dragon immediately appeared on the field between the first two and roared. Then he placed another card onto the field facedown. The Blackhearted might have been scared, but no one could tell since his face was hidden by his hood.

"And now, I'll use my Polymerization card to fuse them together!" announced Kaiba. A white stream of light engulfed all three dragons. A moment later, a pair of white dragon wings emerged and the light receded.

"What is that creature?!" gasped the Blackhearted.

"Say hello to the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" shouted Kaiba as the mighty three-headed dragon stepped forward and roared, "Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, NEUTRON BLAST!" All three dragon heads opened their mouths and each one powered up a White Lightning. Then, they combined them all into one massive energy ball and fired a beam at it, destroying the Blackhearted's monster, which was Neo the Magic Swordsman.

__

Such a powerful monster, thought the Blackhearted duelist.

"Surrender now while you still have a chance!" said Kaiba.

"Never," said the Blackhearted as he drew his next card, "First, I activate the Dark Magic Ritual! And now I'll sacrifice the Red-Eyes Black Dragon and Monster Egg from my hand to summon the Magician of Black Chaos!" A pentagram surrounded by two poles appeared on the field. The images of a Red-Eyes Black Dragon and a Monster Egg appeared and disappeared into the poles. A dark cloud appeared above the field and the powerful Magician of Black Chaos descended down from it and landed on the pentagram.

"What a waste," said Kaiba.

"And now, I'll play Monster Reborn to bring back my Red-Eyes Black Dragon!" continued the Blackhearted, "And now I'll play my own Polymerization card!"

WHAT?!" shouted Kaiba, "You can't fuse a Red-Eyes Black Dragon with the Magician of Black Chaos!"

"If you were one of the Blackhearted, you would understand," laughed the cowled minion, "Our powers allow anything to happen!"

The two of them watched as the Magician of Black Chaos merged with the Red-Eyes Black Dragon. There was a bright flash and there stood the Red-Eyes on its own as it slowly changed. Its horns began to change shape as a mass of long black hair grew out from its skull. A series of buckles appeared all over its arms and legs. A flash of red light appeared above the monster and two red beams flew down and hit the dragon in the chest and forehead, creating a pentagram at each location.

"Behold the BLACK CHAOS DRAGON!" shouted the Blackhearted. The dragon let out a mighty roar as its stats were revealed. Its attack power was 3400 and its defense was 2900. Upon seeing this, Kaiba smirked.

"You're wasting good cards," Kaiba said, shaking his head.

"Now I empower it with Megamorph, doubling its attack power since my Life Points are lower than yours!" said the Blackhearted.

"WHAT?!?!" shouted Kaiba.

"Black Chaos Dragon, attack the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon with CHAOS INFERNO!!!!" shouted the Blackhearted. The dragon opened its mouth and built up a massive red and black fireball, which it launched at Kaiba's dragon, destroying it and doing serious damage to his Life Points.

****

Kaiba: 800 / **Blackhearted:** 2900

Kaiba knew his current situation. He was now facing a monster he had never seen before in his life with power that could destroy him instantly. He drew a card and looked at it.

"I play Monster Recovery," said Kaiba. He removed his Lord of Dragons from the field and placed it on top of his deck with his hand and shuffled. He replaced his deck into the card reader and drew a fresh hand of five new cards. He noticed one particular card and it gave him hope.

Let's going, Kaiba. We don't have all day," said the Blackhearted.

"You want quick, I'll give it to you," said Kaiba, "I play the Mysterious Puppeteer in attack mode and activate Ultimate Offering! With this combo, I can summon an extra monsters without losing a single Life Point." He took three cards from his hand and placed them all out on the field in defense mode.

__

What is he planning? The hooded fiend wondered, _I better not risk it quite yet._

"I'll play the Pot of Greed," said the Blackhearted. He slid his card into the slot and the green grinning jug appeared on the field. A pair of ghostly hands emerged from it, grabbed two cards, and brought them over to the duelist. Immediately, the Life Point counter switched from his number of Life Points to the words "DRAW TWO". The Blackhearted drew two cards form his deck and placed a Harpie Brother on the field before ending his turn.

__

This better be it, thought Kaiba as he drew. He held the card up close and looked at it. It was the last card he was looking for.

"Yes!" said the champ, "Alright, time to end this duel! First off, I sacrifice my thee facedown monsters: Mystic Horseman, the Hitotsu-Me Giant, and Saggi the Dark Clown." The three monsters appeared on the field and were destroyed one by one.

__

What is he doing?! Thought the Blackhearted.

"And now here comes toe monster of your demise!" said Kaiba he placed the card he drew onto the field, "I now summon the GOD OF THE OBELISK!" Thunder roared and lightning flashed as flames rose out of the ground and the massive hulking monster, God of the Obelisk emerged onto the field.

"God of the Obelisk?!" gasped the Blackhearted ,but he quickly recovered, "Nice try, but it won't do you any good. Even if my Harpie Brother is destroyed, I'll still have 700 Life Points left."

"Who said I was going to attack right away?" Kaiba asked, "For now I play Soul Exchange! I'll sacrifice my Mysterious Puppeteer and your Harpie Brother to activate God of the Obelisk's effect!" The two monsters were destroyed and the God of the Obelisk clenched its fist and drew it back.

"Strike now, Obelisk! Destroy his monster and his Life Points with God Hand Crusher!" Obelisk brought forth its massive fist and slammed it down hard on the Black Chaos Dragon, obliterating it while at the same time destroying the rest of the Blackhearted's Life Points.

"THIS CANNOT BE!" shouted the black hooded minion as he dropped down to zero.

"It's over," said Kaiba, "I've won."

****

Kaiba: 800 / **Blackhearted:** 0

"Now release my brother!" demanded Kaiba.

"You think it's that easy, do you?" asked the Blackhearted, "Well it's not!" He reached into his deck and pulled out a Swordstalker card, which he threw at Kaiba. The card instantly transformed into a real monster and the Swordstalker ran towards Kaiba.

"I'm afraid it's easier than you think," said Kaiba. The Blitz Stone around his neck suddenly began to glow. The Chinese character for thunder within it shone brightly as sparks flew inside the crystal. Just as the Swordstalker struck, an electrical barrier surrounded Kaiba and protected him.

"What in the?!" exclaimed the Blackhearted, "Is that one of the stones?!"

"The Blitz Stone of Thunder!" announced Kaiba. The electrical barrier suddenly lashed out at the Swordstalker and destroyed it. Almost immediately after the monster's demise, the barrier dropped and a massive bolt of lightning descended down from the sky and landed right between Kaiba and the Blackhearted minion.

"This cannot be!" shouted the cloaked being.

"It is. Now face the power of the animal spirit of the Blitz Stone!" shouted Kaiba. The Blitz Stone glowed brightly and several bolts of lightning rained down from the sky and combined into one massive bolt, which took on the shape of a massive sparking dragon. The dragon roared loudly and launched itself at the Blackhearted.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" screamed the underling as the dragon made contact with him and completely destroyed him.

"I have won," said Kaiba.

***

"I'm out of paper!" shouted Yomiko.

"There's too many!" said Agnimon.

"We cannot defeat them all!" exclaimed Meta Knight.

Ultraman Tiga fired another Tiga Slicer and backed up against his allies.

"We can't go on like this," said Trunks.

Suddenly, several bolts of lightning rained down on the Blackhearted and destroyed all the minions. When the smoke cleared, everyone could see Kaiba emerging from the Kaiba Corp. building with a small boy with long black hair holding his hand.

"Kaiba, you made it!" said Takuya after he devolved from Agnimon.

"Who's the kid?" asked Li.

"This is my little brother, Mokuba," Kaiba introduced.

***

"Well, so much for that," said a deep voice, which so happened to belong to yet another being who joined the Blackhearted willingly: Cell.

"Shut up!" said Yami Malik, "At least the lord hasn't overheard us."

"But now we know the true power of at least one of the stones," said Cherubimon, who was still speaking via his silhouette on the wall, "Let us use that to our advantage."

"Then I suggest we wait," said a new voice. Everyone turned to see a tall dark-skinned man with red hair wearing armor and a red cape enter.

"Ganondorf, don't think you're so great just because the possess the Triforce of Power!" said Yami Bakura.

"Patience is a virtue," said Cell, "I bided my time carefully in order to reach the form I'm currently in."

"Cell and Ganondorf both have a point," said Cherubimon, "We should wait."

"For now," muttered Yami Malik.

***

Kaiba sat in the ADI infirmary as his brother slowly awoke.

"Mokuba, are you alright?" Kaiba asked.

"Seto? Is that you?" Mokuba asked, weakly.

"It's me, Mokuba," Kaiba reassured his brother.

"Seto, I knew you'd come to rescue me," said Mokuba, smiling.

"You know I'd never leave you," said Kaiba, "You're my little brother."

"Kinda a sweet scene, isn't it?" Ryo asked as he and Kai stood just outside, "Two brothers reunited."

"Why are you asking me?" Kai retorted.

"Just trying to make conversation," said Ryo.

"Well, don't," said Kai as he left.

***

Takuya laid on his bed in his quarters thinking. Seeing the Kaiba brothers reunited caused him to think about his own little brother, Shinya. His mind kept going back to his friends and family. But then again, so did everyone else's.

"Something tells me this is war," the goggle buy said to himself.

**__**

TO BE CONTINUED…

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__

Next time, the team goes off for extensive training after their last battle with the Blackhearted. Their trainers – one a powerful swordsman, the other a gunblade wielder – are going to push the team to their limit. But can they do it in time to face off against the enemy?

Special Bonus: An introduction to the **Armored Blackhearted**.

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And that was the second chapter. Please read and send in your reviews.


	3. Intense Training and Another Mission

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Disclaimer: I don't own any of the animé or Japanese classics in this fanfic.

But I do own the Blackhearted, Otaku, and the ADI.

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****

UNITED WE STAND AS ONE

Intense Training and Another Mission

"What do you think?" Li asked.

"I understand exactly how Kaiba must feel about his brother right now," said Takuya as he walked down the cafeteria line with his tray in hand, "You see, I have a little brother of my own."

"Yeah, I guess," said Li.

The two stone holders grabbed their food and went out into the dining area. The two of them found a table and sat down.

"So, what's it like?" Li asked.

"Huh?"

"What's it like?" Li repeated, "I wouldn't know. I don't have any younger siblings."

"Well, when you have a little brother or sister, you feel like it's your responsibility to make sure they're safe," said Takuya as he tried to explain to Li what it was like to be an older sibling, "You have even more responsibilities to take care of. But having a younger sibling has its up times, too. Like you've got someone to play with most of the time."

"I guessed that," said Li as he took a sip of his drink.

"Excuse me. Mind if I sit?" Takuya and Li turned to see a boy with spiky brown hair and blue eyes. He was wearing a red suit, a short-sleeved white and black jacket, white gloves, and big yellow shoes.

"No, not at all," said Takuya.

"Thanks," said the boy as he sat down, "So, you guys are the ones who possess Fire and Wood."

"I'm Fire, he's Wood," clarified Takuya, "I'm Takuya."

"My name's Li," Li introduced.

"My name is Sora," said the boy, "I help out at the training center."

"Which reminds me," said Li, "Didn't Otaku say something about a special training session for all of us today?"

"Yeah, he did," said Sora, "He said you guys are going to be trained by our two best professionals in field combat."

"Can you tell us what they look like or something?" Takuya asked.

"You're looking at one of them," said Sora.

Both Takuya and Li nearly choked on their food. They each downed several gulps of water before looking back at Sora. The boy was only fourteen years old and he was going to be one of their trainers? Neither of them could really believe it.

"Anyway, I better head back to the training center," said Sora as he finished off his food and picked up his tray, "I need to help finish setting things up for you guys. See you later." Sora waved good-bye to Takuya and Li and left, but not before placing his tray onto the rack near the doorway.

"Do you think anything bad can come from this?" Li asked.

"I really don't see how," replied Takuya as he stuffed another French fry into his mouth.

***

"Keys? What keys?" Richie asked.

"Hidden within each world is a key, which can unlock the very core of that particular world," said Otaku, "The reason we've recruited these warriors is to keep the Blackhearted from obtaining these keys. We've already got three of the keys."

"It was found on Mokuba," said Duero. (A/N: from _Vandread_.)

"And Sora's Keyblade is the second one," added Ryo.

"And unknown to him, Daigo has the third one: his Spark Lens," said Albert.

"We've still got a long way to go," said Otaku as he brushed aside the strands in front of his face away from his eyes, "We've got to try to collect all the keys before the Blackhearted do."

"But right now, our only choice is to beat them to each key," said Kai, "If the Blackhearted keep at this, we've got to try to locate them every time they go somewhere."

"It's better than nothing," said Otaku.

"When should we tell them?" asked Ryo.

"Perhaps after today's training session," said Otaku, "Understood?"

"Yes, Sir," said the others in the room.

***

The ADI training facility was the largest anyone had ever seen. It wasn't designed to just improve the skills of a large group in general. It was also made to help develop specific talents and powers. The stone holders entered and found Sora standing next to a man with brown hair dressed in black holding what appeared to be a cross between a sword and a gun.

"Glad you could all make it," Sora said cheerfully. He was still much the same way as when he met Takuya and Li in the cafeteria. The only difference now was that he held what appeared to be a giant key in his right hand.

"Well, we're all here," said Li.

"So how's this training going to work?" asked Daigo.

"We'll get to that in a minute," said Sora, "Firstly, I'm Sora."

"And my name is Squall," said the older man.

"One of our trainers is a kid?" Kaiba muttered to himself in disbelief. About two people away from him, Trunks was thinking the same thing.

"You two are the only trainers here?" asked Link.

"The ADI's been on low budget ever since the Blackhearted took over the _Mobile Suit Gundam_ realm and pulled our funding," answered Sora.

"You guys have been on funding?" Shinji wondered.

"We _were_," said Squall.

"Anyway, let's get started," said Sora.

***

"So the Blackhearted Duelist failed against Seto Kaiba," said Yami Malik, "Obviously, we did not anticipate the powers of the Blitz Stone."

"We can best assume that the others stones are just as powerful if not more," said Cherubimon.

"You are right, Cherubimon," said Ganondorf, "Though they are weak, we must not underestimate them."

"What other minions can we inflict upon them?" asked Yami Bakura.

"Perhaps we shall consult N.M.E. or Zirconia," said Cell.

"At the moment, we're running out of options," said Yami Malik, "Let's see what we have to work with."

Cell reached over to the side and pushed a button. A panel in the wall to the side slid open and a massive monitor came out of it. The screen lit up and there appeared the face of a man in a dark suit with dark greenish hair and sunglasses.

"Welcome to Blackhearted Enterprises. What kind of Blackhearted are you looking for today?" said the N.M.E. sales guy. When the Blackhearted had taken over Dreamland and the rest of the Kirby world, they had also taken over Nightmare Enterprises, converting its massive numbers of monsters into Blackhearted, ready to be uses at their disposal.

"The Blackhearted Duelist was a failure," said Yami Bakura, "We now know the power of the Blitz Stone, but we are still unaware of the powers of the other stones."

"We need something powerful," said Cherubimon.

"I think we might have exactly what you're looking for," said the N.M.E. sales guy. A small picture-in-picture window appeared in the top right-hand corner of the screen and displayed a creature dressed in black armor with the Blackhearted insignia on the chest.

"What is it?" asked Cell.

"This here is from our band-new line of Armored Blackhearted," explained the N.M.E. salesman, "As you can see for yourself, these creatures are covered from head to toe in pitch-black armor that protects them from any sort of regular physical or magical attacks. Get it now and we'll throw in some extra weapons for free!"

"Put them through," said Cell. He pushed a red button and he and the others walked over to a big window that overlooked a large chamber. The doors to the sides slid open and several of the Armored Blackhearted walked in, each armed with different kinds of weapons.

"This is perfect," Yami Bakura chuckled.

***

Link blocked another blow with the Master Sword as Squall swung his gunblade at the Hylian hero.

"That's it," said the gunblade wielder as he drew back his arm and swung his weapon once again.

"BURNING ATTACK!" shouted Trunks. He moved his arms around rapidly before holding them out before him and firing his trademark move at the target in front of him, destroying it. Next to him, Daigo was firing his GUTS Hyper at pop-up targets while Yomiko was ripping sheets of paper from a large pad and throwing them at the dummies, either hitting them squarely in the chest or head, or severing limbs.

"This training's a lot harder that I thought," said Takuya as he tried to scale a vertical wall with no handholds or footholds.

"No one said it would be easy," said Meta Knight, who was doing the same exercise as Takuya.

"Well, I wasn't expecting it to be _this_ hard," said Takuya right before his foot slipped and he fell backwards and landed on the padded mat right below him.

Elsewhere, Shinji was suited up in the plug suit sitting in the entry plug of EVA-01 piloting the massive synthetic lifeform as the synchronization training session progressed. He did his best to concentrate on the task at hand, which was currently trying to exploit the powers of the Destiny Stone using the EVA. So far, he hadn't had much success.

"Any luck yet?" Ryo asked as he walked in.

"Not a whole lot," answered Sora, "How are things going in the repair bay?"

"The Blue Bomber's still out," said Ryo, "but he _is_ going to recover."

"That's a relief," said Sora as he returned his attention to the training session.

"Looks like it's going to be a long day," said Ryo, "Anyway, tell the team that Otaku wants them in his office when lunch is over."

***

**__**

AFTER LUNCH

"You wanted to see us?" Rokusho asked as he and the rest of the stone holders entered the large office, where Otaku sat behind a large desk.

"As a matter of fact, yes," said Otaku, "Please, take a seat."

"Everyone looked around. There were only two other chairs in the room aside from the one Otaku was already sitting in.

"Or stand," added Otaku, "Anyway, this is about the Blackhearted. Now, before the Blackhearted came about, your worlds, as well as others, were all separated by interdimensional walls with no way to travel to the other universes. But then, the Blackhearted came about and their power brought down those walls. Our objective is to restore them and be rid of the Blackhearted for good. However, that's the least of our concerns at the moment."

"I wonder what it is," said Ashitaka.

"Hidden within each realm is a secret key that unlocks the way to the very core, or heart if you prefer, of that particular world. We were able to get the key to the heart of the _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ world when we saved Mokuba."

"You mean my brother had it?" Kaiba asked.

"Believe it or not, he did," said Otaku, "It was dropped by Shadii when he was taken by the Blackhearted. Kai, bring in the key."

The Bladebreaker walked outside of the room for a minute and returned with a golden artifact on a string. It was a key shaped like an ancient Egyptian ankh.

"This is the Millennium Ankh," explained Otaku, "Apparently, Mokuba picked it up after Shadii was taken by the Blackhearted."

"So, each realm has its own special key?" asked Trunks.

"You've got it," said Otaku, "Aside from the Millennium Ankh, we've also got two others already in our possession. Firstly, there's Sora's Keyblade."

"Huh, go figure," said Takuya, "I was wondering why he had a giant key for a sword."

"And believe it or not, Daigo has the third key," said Otaku.

"Me?" Daigo asked, pointing to himself.

"It's closer than you think," said Otaku, "It's your Spark Lens."

"Gosh, who would've known?" wondered Daigo.

"You're Ultraman Tiga, you tell us," said Ryo.

"So, you want us to go find these keys and bring them back?" asked Yomiko.

"Exactly," said Otaku.

"But where can we find them?" asked Ami.

"That's the thing," said Otaku, "Some keys have been hidden someplace safe. Others are so obvious that they're easily overlooked."

"Interesting. And very clever, too," said Meta Knight.

"Whatever it takes, you sixteen are the only ones who can prevent the Blackhearted from corrupting the cores of all the worlds," said Otaku.

"What do you mean us sixteen?" asked Kaiba, "There are only twelve of us."

"Twelve? But that's impossible! There are sixteen stones in total!" exclaimed Otaku.

"Sir? Is it possible that when you sent out the stones, some of them could have been intercepted by the Blackhearted?" suggested Richie.

"Let's pray that that's not the case," said Otaku. He quickly typed in a few commands into his keyboard and one of the many computer screens in his office lit up and several figures scrolled by.

"How long will this take?" asked Takuya.

"Patience, young Obi-Wan," said Ryo.

"Great Cesar's ghost! We're missing four stones!" shouted Otaku.

"Quick, run a check!" said Richie as he turned to the stone holders, "What're your stones again?"

"Pyro Stone," said Takuya.

"Strato Stone," said Yomiko.

"Aqua Stone," said Meta Knight.

"Blitz Stone," said Kaiba.

"Cryo Stone," said Ami.

"Arbor Stone," said Li.

"Mecha Stone," said Rokusho.

"Shine Stone," said Daigo.

"Chrono Stone," said Link.

"Spirit Stone," said Ashitaka.

"Lunar Stone," said Trunks.

"Destiny Stone," said Shinji.

Otaku scrolled through the list once more before his jaw dropped.

"Good Lord," he said, "We're missing the stones containing the powers of Earth, Psychic, Darkness, and Chaos!"

***

Blackhearted combed the streets of Reedington, undoubtedly in search of something. Sakura Avalon watched from her hiding place as the shadowy creatures walked by.

__

What do they want with me? she thought to herself, _Is it because I'm the master of the cards?_ She reached into her backpack and pulled out the Sakura Book, which contained the fifty-two Star Cards. Just then, she heard a noise coming from behind her. Turning around, Sakura could see several creatures advancing towards her. They somewhat resembled the Armored Heartless, but their armor was pitch-bland and much more lethal. They even carried what looked like weapons in their hands. Immediately, Sakura took out her key and held it out in her hand.

"Key of the Star, with powers burning bright. Reveal the staff and shine your light," she chanted, "RELEASE!" Magical energies flew into the key as it grew and transformed into Sakura's staff. Opening the book, Sakura took out her favorite Star Card and threw it into the air. "WINDY!"

The Windy spirit emerged from the card and flew towards the Armored Blackhearted. Each nightmarish creature held up its shield and the Windy blew past them without dealing a single scratch of damage.

"That didn't work," said Sakura, "FIERY!" Like the Windy spirit, Fiery emerged from its card and flew towards the Armored Blackhearted, incinerating everything in its path. And just like the Windy spirit, it couldn't do anything against the diabolical creatures.

***

Red lights flashed and the alarm blared loudly throughout ADI headquarters.

"Damn! Always when I'm in the shower!" cursed Takuya as he quickly shut off the water. Wrapping his towel around himself and grabbing his soap and shampoo, he dashed out of the men's shower room and into his quarters, where he quickly dried off and dressed before joining the others in Otaku's office.

"We've got a lock on another key," said Otaku, "Location: Reedington."

"Reedington?! That's in my world!" exclaimed Li.

"All of you know what you have to do," said Otaku, "Sora, go with them."

"Yes, Sir," said Sora. He bowed before running down to the transport room with the stone holders.

"Jim, set the portal for Reedington," Otaku ordered via the telecom system.

"Right away!" said Jim.

***

The team arrived in Reedington in the remains of Penguin Park. The penguin slide was completely obliterated and the large plastic penguins had been utterly destroyed. The trees showed clear signs that they had been ablaze at one point in time. The water in the river was blood-red (actually, no one could tell if it was blood-red or just plain blood).

"This is awful," said Yomiko.

Li stepped forward away from the group a bit and looked around.

"SAKURA!" he called out.

"Everything has been destroyed," said Meta Knight.

"This is terrible," said Daigo, "This is just as bad as Domino City."

Just then, a loud scream was heard. The team turned to see a girl with brown hair and green eyes carrying a staff and a pink book running away from the group of black armored creatures.

"Sakura!" Li shouted.

"Li!" Sakura cried, recognizing the boy's voice, "JUMP!" Sakura suddenly gained wings on her shoes and she began to jump towards the group, not stopping until she arrived at their destination.

"Sakura, are you alright?" asked Li as he ran over to the master of the cards.

"Barely," said Sakura, "What are those things?"

"Talk later," said Li as he tore his sword from its scabbard just as the Armored Blackhearted arrived.

"MERCURY CRYSTAL POWER!" shouted Ami, allowing her to transform into Sailor Mercury.

"SPIRIT EVOLUTION!" shouted Takuya.

**__**

"AGNIMON!"

"We'll take them on," said Trunks as he drew the Z-Sword and twirled it in his hand.

"FIRE DARTS!" shouted Agnimon. He held his left fist close to his chest and used his right hand to shoot miniature fireballs from the top of it. Each one hit the Armored Blackhearted, but had little to no effect against the armor.

"MERCURY AQUA RHAPSODY!" shouted Sailor Mercury. He launched her attack, but it only did about as much as Agnimon's Fire Darts.

"Let me try," said Trunks. He flew in and swung his sword right at one of the Armored Blackhearted's neck only to have it make a loud clanging sound against the protective gear.

"That didn't do any good," said Daigo as he fired his GUTS Hyper at the oncoming creatures.

"They're practically invincible!" said Meta Knight.

"Well, we have to do something!" said Li, "They have to have been after Sakura for a reason!"

__

The key…

"Did you guys just hear that?" asked Link.

"Hear what?" asked Ashitaka.

__

The key…

"That," said Link.

"I heard it, too," said Kaiba.

"So did I," said Shinji.

__

Sakura…the key…

"Sakura?" Li wondered when it suddenly hit him, "Of course!"

"What is it, Li?" Sakura asked.

"Sakura, they're after your staff!" said Li.

"What? Why?" asked Sakura.

"In its key form, it has the power to unlock our world's core," Li explained, "That's why the Blackhearted are after you. They want to take over our world!"

Suddenly, several normal Blackhearted (we'll call them Shadows from now on) appeared out of the ground and grabbed Sakura.. "HELP!" she screamed.

"Sakura!" shouted Li, "Get away from her!" Li put his sword away and leapt at the Shadows. However, he didn't get far before several Armored Blackhearted appeared and blocked his way. Filled with anger, he took his rage out on the dark soldiers. As he delivered kicks, punches, and blows from his sword, he was still unable to destroy even one of the dark minions.

"We need more power," said Kaiba, "The magic in the Blitz Stone shall help me in this battle. Go Swordstalker!" Kaiba held up one of his cards. At once, both it and the Blitz Stone began to glow and the mighty Swordstalker emerged as a real-life monster.

"A monster came from a card?" Agnimon wondered.

"Swordstalker, Vengeance Strike!" ordered Kaiba. His mighty monster leapt at the Armored Blackhearted and brought its sword down on one of the soldiers only to find that it did absolutely no damage to it.

"What are these things made of?!" Trunks asked.

Meanwhile, Li was still doing his best to try to save Sakura.

"Give…me…back…Sakura…NOW!" screamed the young magician. He thrust his sword forward and it came in contact with the Blackhearted insignia on one of the Armored Blackhearted's chest. The soldier writhed in pain for a moment before a flash of light appeared and its body shattered.

"Did you see that?" Shinji asked.

"I was going to ask you the same thing," said Daigo.

"Li has found the weakness to these diabolical creatures," said Meta Knight, "We must attack the symbols on their chests." And with those words said, Meta Knight leapt forward and stabbed one of the Armored Blackhearted in the symbol on its chest. Like the one Li destroyed, it, too, was shattered and its pieces disintegrated. Ashitaka thrust his sword forward and the results were the same.

"Looks like the tide of this battle has just made its turn," said Rokusho, "HAMMER FIST!" He slammed his fist into the insignia on one soldier's chest and it disappeared. He then quickly spun around and slashed another one across the symbol with his sword.

"The symbol, huh? No problem," said Agnimon, "SALAMANDER BREAK!" He kicked one Armored Blackhearted in the chest with such intense force, that it not only caused the diabolical shadow warrior to disintegrate, it also allowed the Legendary Warrior of Fire to kick down the two behind it.

"This makes things easier," said Yomiko. She threw the bar that she had made out of paper into the air and it broke against a broken piece of metal framing. Suddenly, the sheets of paper stiffened and rained down on the Armored Blackhearted, aimed right at their insignias.

"A lot easier," said Kaiba, "Swordstalker, Vengeance Strike! Attack the symbols on their chests!" The Swordstalker obeyed and struck down the dark menaces with deadly precision and accuracy.

"So the symbol is the weakpoint," said Link. He looked around and noticed that he was surrounded by Armored Blackhearted. He put away his sword and shield and waited. As soon as they were close enough, Link cast Din's Fire. The intense flames struck the chests of all the soldiers and destroyed them, since their arms were spread out, ready to attack the Hylian Hero of Time.

"MERCURY AQUA RHAPSODY!" shouted Sailor Mercury. As soon as her attack cleared away some more Armored Blackhearted, Trunks and Daigo went in and took care of the rest of that particular line.

Meanwhile, Li had almost reached Sakura after stabbing past several soldiers.

"Sakura! Just hang on!" he called out.

"Li!" Sakura cried.

"I'm almost there!" shouted the young warlock. He finally managed to get past the last of the Armored Blackhearted that stood in his way and ran straight towards the master of the Clow Cards.

__

I finally made it, thought Li.

"Li, look out!" shouted Sakura.

Li looked up and jumped out of the way just as a massive metal foot landed right where he used to be. The foot was part of a large black suit of armor that seemed to float in the air.

"What on Earth is that?!" Shinji asked.

"It reminds me of the Guard Armor I once fought," said Sora.

"It's called a Dark Armor," said a voice.

Everyone turned towards the direction of the voice to see who had spoken. The person they heard was standing on a broken roof with the wind blowing through his purple cloak and wild pale hair. In his hand, he carried a long golden artifact with some sort of winged ball on one end.

"Malik," said Kaiba.

"You know this guy?" Daigo asked.

"He participated in the Battle City tournament I held," said Kaiba.

"You haven't changed a bit," said Yami Malik, "But now, I must leave you. In the meantime, Dark Armor, DESTROY THEM!"

"Come back here!" said Kaiba, but it was too late. Yami Malik had stepped backward into a swirling dark mist and disappeared.

The twelve stone holders, along with Sora, all stood together and faced Dark Armor, which was the only thing standing between them and Sakura.

"This won't be easy," said Link.

Dark Armor lunged forward with a punch. Everyone quickly got out of the way and spread out.

"I now summon the Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" said Kaiba as he held out his prized card. The picture glowed and his faithful monster emerged and roared before taking flight and beginning its assault on the Blackhearted behemoth.

"Wind!" shouted Sora. He swung his Keyblade around and cast a shield made of air around himself before doing the same for everyone else.

"Thanks," said Agnimon, "Now let's kick it up a notch."

**__**

"Agnimon Slide Evolution! VRITRAMON!"

"CORONA BLASTER!" shouted Vritramon.

"I'll try the Sword Beam!" said Meta Knight. He leapt up into the air and swung his sword, sending a blade of energy towards Dark Armor. It struck the chest, doing minimal damage, if any at all.

"Blue-Eyes White Dragon, White Lightning attack!" ordered Kaiba. His dragon powered up and launched its deadly attack at the massive armored powerhouse and crashed right into it. When the smoke cleared, everyone could see that Dark Armor was completely unaffected.

"Not a scratch!" said Rokusho.

"This thing's too powerful!" exclaimed Shinji.

"It's not over yet," said Li, "I still have to save Sakura!" And with that, he rushed as Dark Armor. Little did he know that the Arbor Stone was beginning to radiate an emerald-green light.

"Li! Come back here!" shouted Vritramon.

"Not until I save Sakura!" Li shouted back as he ran forward towards Dark Armor with his sword drawn.

"Li!" said Sakura. Suddenly, she gasped. Surrounding Li as he ran towards her was a green aura. The Arbor Stone shone brightly and the image of a leaf appeared behind the character for "wood".

"What's going on?" asked Daigo.

"Li's Arbor Stone is glowing," said Ashitaka, "His determination to save Sakura has awakened the spirit within it."

As Li ran towards Dark Armor, the green aura around his body shot upward in the form of a beam and took on the shape of a bear surrounded by a swirling mass of leaves.

"Li's got a bear?" Vritramon asked, cocking an eyebrow beneath his helmet.

"A grizzly bear, to be more specific," said Sailor Mercury.

__

Did Li learn some kind of new magic? Sakura wondered.

"Arbor Stone, know my plight. Release the light!" Li chanted as he ran, repeating the familiar incantation, "BEAR, ATTACK!" Li leapt at Dark Armor and slashed it with his sword as he passed. As soon as he was behind the monster, his Bear roared and smashed into right into it. Dark Armor creaked for a bit before it was completely destroyed.

"Li, you have done it," said Meta Knight.

"You defeated Dark Armor AND saved Sakura!" exclaimed Shinji.

"Plus, we got the key," said Yomiko.

But Li wasn't listening to what the others were saying. He was kneeling on the ground in front of Sakura, looking at her deeply.

"Are you okay, Sakura?" asked the young magician.

"I'll be okay," replied Sakura.

The bear gave one final roar before disappearing back into the Arbor Stone. Li took the sacred crystal into his hand and look deeply into it.

"Thank you, Bear," he said, "You've helped me a great deal today."

***

"What?! The Armored Blackhearted were defeated?!" Cherubimon screamed.

"How is this possible?" asked Zirconia.

"Any idea, doctor?" Yami Bakura asked as he turned towards Dr. Meda-Evil.

"This is most puzzling," said the two-foot-tall mad scientist.

"What was the big idea sending us something faulty?!" Cell barked as he turned towards the screen on the wall.

"Well, you DID request something more powerful than the last minions that were sent and I gave you all the strengths," said the N.M.E. salesman, "You just never asked for the weaknesses."

"Next time," said Yami Malik, "Next time."

***

Li sat next to Sakura's bed in the infirmary. He had changed out of his battle costume and was now wearing a simple pair of blue jeans and a white T-shirt with blue stripes on the sleeves and a blue collar. His eyes began to fill with tears slightly as Sakura opened hers.

"Are you okay, Sakura?" he asked.

"Yeah," said Sakura, "Where am I? And where's the staff?"

"You're in the infirmary of the ADI headquarters. And the staff has been stored away safely with the Millennium Ankh," Li explained.

"I don't understand," said Sakura.

"It's alright," said Li, "You've been out for hours. You had better rest."

"Okay," said Sakura.

Before leaving, Li placed an unexpected kiss on Sakura's cheek before turning around and heading out into the hallway.

**__**

TO BE CONTINUED…

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NEXT TIME:

__

The ADI goes off to face its largest enemy ever. Even though Daigo already has the Spark Lens, which is the key to his world, there is something else going on. And it involves Rena. Can Daigo and the ADI save her before the Blackhearted and their monster can get their hands on her? And just exactly who carry the four missing stones?

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Please read and review, folks. The more, the merrier (especially for me, since I need higher ratings).


	4. Saving Private Rena

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Disclaimer: I don't own any of the animé or Japanese classics in this fanfic.

But I do own the Blackhearted, Otaku, and the ADI.

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UNITED WE STAND AS ONE

Saving Private Rena

__

The attack came unexpectedly. Before long, several black creature had infiltrated GUTS headquarters. The first to fall was Shinjoh. The next one down was Commander Munakata. Then Horii. Even Captain Iruma and Yazumi fell at the hands of the Blackhearted. Daigo had done his best to help them all, but failed.

"It's no use trying to save them anymore," the young GUTS officer said to himself, "My friends are gone. I should at least try to save the rest of the mankind!" And with that, he whipped out the Spark Lens and held it over his head. The golden bindings opened and the crystal shone, transforming Daigo into the giant warrior of light: Ultraman Tiga.

As soon as Ultraman emerged outside of the Citagon, several larger minions appeared and attacked. The massive fighter quickly delivered a kick to one in the stomach before punching another one and throwing it into a third. However, more still appeared. Two of them tried to swipe him with their claws, but he rolled out of the way. As soon as he had dodged the attack, Ultraman held his arms across his chest and threw them forward, firing a Tiga Slicer at them. The cutter beam hit one of the two that had just attacked Ultraman and destroyed it.

Suddenly, the creatures began to combine. Soon, Ultraman faced a massive black creature unlike any he had ever seen, which proved to be more than a match for the great hero. Quickly regaining his composure, a red light flashed on his helmet and Ultraman's purple patches changed to red, switching him to Power Mode.

With newfound power, he rushed into the monster and delivered a series of blows. The creature was clearly taken off-guard.

"Don't let him win!" a voice cried out. Hearing this, the monster opened its mouth and shot streams of acid at Ultraman. The warrior of light quickly moved out of the way and built up a ball of energy between his hands. Unfortunately, the monster struck him down before he had a chance to launch his Delacium Light-Stream. To make matters worse, the Biotic Sensor was blinking red. Ultraman looked up to see the monster looming over him.

Then, everything went black.

* * *

Daigo couldn't shake the memory from his mind. He had failed his friends at GUTS and the world.

"Are you okay?" asked Rokusho, who happened to be in the same room as Daigo.

"Yeah," said the young GUTS officer.

"You seem troubled," said Rokusho.

"Who isn't?" asked Daigo.

"I see your point," said Rokusho, "But you can't let that keep you down. We've all lost our worlds and loved ones, but we shall get them back. Besides, they aren't truly gone. They're with us, even now. They're here, deep within our hearts. As long as there's hope, there's a future for us all."

"I guess you're right," said Daigo.

"Come on, the others are waiting," said Rokusho.

Daigo got up and followed the noble Medabot down to the lounge, where the rest of the stone holders and the ADI staff were.

* * *

"So, what are we going to plan to do with her?" asked Yami Bakura.

"It's simple. If he really does care so deeply for her, he will give up the key to save her life," said Cherubimon.

"Indeed," said Dr. Meda-Evil.

"If he truly loves her, he'll give us what we need," said Ganondorf.

"Yes, he would," said Cell, "Or he'll die trying to save her." The evil android turned and looked into the cell where a young woman in a GUTS uniform was chained to the wall.

__

These fools all have such simple weaknesses, said a voice.

* * *

"Well, what've you got?" asked Trunks.

"Three jacks and two fours," said Li.

"Two eights," said Richie.

"Straight, all diamonds," said Trunks, "What about you, Takuya?"

"This," said the goggle boy as he put his cards down, "A royal flush." Everyone just gaped at his hand.

"No wonder you didn't discard any," said Richie.

Meanwhile, Otaku was in his office still trying to work on finding the location of the four missing stones.

"Any luck yet?" asked Kai.

"None, whatsoever," said Otaku.

"Figures that the Blackhearted would try to take the strongest powers," said Albert.

"Well, they succeeded to take some of them," said Otaku, "However, every element has its weakness. For example, Fire is weak against Water, but powerful against Wood and Ice. Wood can help us regain the Earth. And we can use Light to recover Darkness. I'm still working on a way to recover the power of Psychic and coming close."

"What about the power of Chaos?" asked Ryo.

"Honestly, I don't know what to do about that one," answered Otaku, "Chaos is the most powerful, and the deadliest, power there is. And it's in the possession of the Blackhearted."

"That stinks," said Sora, "So what do we do about it?"

"We let the team take care of it," said Kai.

"Considering the fact that they're our only hope, I guess we don't have much of a choice," said Otaku, "We'll have them try to locate the missing stones."

"I'm just afraid of who the Blackhearted might have chosen to hold them," said Albert.

"People who have undoubtedly been influenced by the powers of darkness," said Duero.

"Shouldn't you be in the infirmary?" Ryo asked.

"There's no reason for that right now," Duero replied.

"So I'm assuming Sakura's back on her feet," said Otaku.

"She is much better now," said Duero.

"Good," said Otaku, "I don't want Li to be affected by any of this."

"Hopefully, he won't," said Kai as he turned to leave.

* * *

Towards dinner time, everyone was beginning to gather in the cafeteria. Li was certainly happy that Sakura was alright, seeing as he was seated right next to her. Even Kaiba had been showing visible signs of happiness ever since Mokuba was rescued. For once, his scowl wasn't etched into his face like it normally was.

"Okay, dinner's ready!" said Albert.

"Well, what are we having?" asked Takuya.

"Catch!" said Albert. And with that, he grabbed a few plates and slid them down the table to each person. Each one contained a small rack of ribs, a dome of fried rice, a corn on the cob, and shrimp fried in batter.

"This looks good," said Takuya as he took a bite, "Hey, it IS good!"

"Let me try," said Mokuba. He took a shrimp into his mouth and his eyes lit up. "Wow! I've never tasted anything this good before!" Everyone else acknowledged their agreement with either a comment or a nod, depending on whether or not they had food in their mouths and how much of it.

"Hey Daigo, you okay?" asked Trunks.

"You haven't touched your food," observed Yomiko.

"I was just thinking about my world," said Daigo.

Everyone in the room nodded their heads with understanding.

"My world was completely destroyed," said Albert as he put the tray he had in his hand down.

"Mine, too," said Kai.

"The Blackhearted are relentless. They consume worlds and harness their powers to fortify their own," said Otaku as he walked in, "There isn't a single world now that hasn't been overrun or destroyed by those accursed creatures."

"Well, we have to do something!" said Takuya, "We're losing family and friends here!"

"I know this may sound harsh, but your loved ones are not the main concern," said Otaku, "It's the keys we're trying to recover. As long as we can prevent the Blackhearted from obtaining the keys, we should be able to save the worlds."

"When the key is used to unlock the core of a world, it makes that would vulnerable to anything that may happen," said Ryo, "The Blackhearted found the key to my world and entered its core. They infected it with their evil and destroyed everything there. My home, my friends, my family, everything."

"My world was also completely destroyed," said Kai.

"Mine, too," said Richie, "Only my world wasn't destroyed by the Blackhearted, themselves. They had help."

"What exactly happened?" asked Ashitaka.

"The Blackhearted are drawn to the darkness in people's hearts," said Otaku, "It's their source of sustenance. They hone in on ones whose hearts are tainted by darkness and then use it to their advantage. When they feel that their chosen being's heart has reached its limit, they consume that individual's heart and turn them into Blackhearted."

"That's what happened in my world," said Richie, "They found someone who had a heart consumed by so much darkness and hatred that they were able to use him to find the key and destroyed the world. What I don't know is who they chose."

"Pikachu," said Sparky.

"Sparky thinks it might've been Team Rocket, Team Magma, or Team Aqua, but we haven't made any conclusions yet," Richie added.

"Still, be alert for the unexpected," said Ryo.

"It's just like Kero used to say, 'expect the unexpected'," said Sakura.

"Wise words," said Kai, "This Kero must have been a wise man."

"Actually, Kero was the Guardian Beast of the Clow Cards," said Sakura, "He's wise in his true form. But in his borrowed form, he's more into video games and sweets."

"Uh, yeah," Shinji said.

"Err…right," said Takuya, "So, about the Blackhearted. Like, when did they first appear and stuff?"

"You guys ever heard of a someone named Chernyl?" asked Jim.

"No, I don't think so," said Link.

"Chernyl was once the protector of all worlds," explained Otaku, "He dedicated his life to studying the Blackhearted. But one day, he disappeared without a trace. The only thing he left behind was his report, which contained all of his findings on the Blackhearted."

"Anyone have any idea as to how he disappeared?" asked Ami.

"None," said Otaku, "It happened almost a decade ago. It won't be long before the anniversary of his disappearance arrives."

"What about his report?" asked Ashitaka.

"Lost," said Otaku, "We're trying to locate it, but the pages have been spread everywhere. It'll be next to impossible to find them."

"I'll be the Blackhearted have been searching, too," said Kaiba.

"No doubt about it," said Rokusho.

"The Blackhearted are relentless. They'll stop at nothing to accomplish their goal," said Meta Knight.

"We're monitoring their activities as best we can," said Albert, "We think they have a pattern, but we're not sure about it, yet."

"Well, where else have they attacked side from each of our own worlds?" asked Yomiko.

"Well, it's obvious that all your worlds have been attacked, but none of them have been destroyed yet," said Otaku.

__

That's a relief, thought Takuya as his mind wandered towards the thought of his friends.

"The realm of _Love Hina_ has been totally destroyed," said Otaku, "Squall's world is gone, too."

"Any other places?" asked Trunks.

"Let me see," said Otaku, "Ryo, can you go get the hard copy of the world log?"

"Sure," said Ryo. He put his napkin and walked away. He returned later with an enormous black binder at least five inches in thickness and handed it to his boss, who set it on the table and began to flip through it.

"Let's see. The worlds of _Gatekeepers_, _.hack//SIGN_, _Gunsmith Cats_, _Puni Puni Poemi_, _Yu Yu Hakusho_, _Excel Saga_, most of the Gundam worlds, and several others," said Otaku, "You can read through this log if you want to know the details." Everyone just looked at the size of the binder.

"I think I'll pass," said Trunks.

* * *

"I'm still surprised at those fools. Even their leader, Otaku," said Cell.

"They still remain unaware of our true plan," said Yami Malik. As soon as those words left his mouth, several Armored Blackhearted walked in carrying an unconscious Shinobu (from Love Hina).

"Completely unaware," said Cherubimon.

"At any rate, it's time to lure the Spark Lens out," said Dr. Meda-Evil.

"We'll use the same monster that attacked his world," said Ganondorf, "It should be able to bring him painful memories."

"Déjà vu. It never fails," said Yami Bakura. He walked over to the computer screen and switched it on. Immediately, the face of the N.M.E. salesman appeared.

"Welcome back to Blackhearted Enterprises," he said.

"Send us that nightmare monster again," said Dr. Meda-Evil.

"One super-deluxe Alptraumar coming up," said the salesman.

The villains waited eagerly as their order was processed and delivered. Within a minute, the massive hulking creature appeared.

"Now, to the world of Ultraman Tiga!" ordered Yami Malik.

* * *

ADI headquarters was completely quiet. Mainly due to the fact that everyone was in their quarters either asleep or getting ready to go to sleep. At least half of the stone holders were already out like lights. Ryo and Kai were on monitor duty, closely watching for any Blackhearted activity.

"Looks like it'll be another long night," said Ryo as he wheeled himself over in his chair to the coffee maker and poured himself another cup.

"Long night or not, we can't let our guard down," said Kai as he sat in front of one of the consoles watching the monitors and sensors.

"Come on, Kai. Relax for once," said Ryo, "Here, have a donut."

"You can relax if you want to," said Kai, "I won't. Especially since I just saw another world become engulfed into the darkness."

"What?" Ryo asked, "Which one?"

"The _GaoGaiGar_ world," answered Kai, "Apparently, the key to that world was two objects: they key and keycard used to unlock the Golden Hammer." He then scoffed. "And you told me to relax."

"Shut up," said Ryo as he sat back down in his chair and pulled on a headset, "Try to trace their next target from there."

"Already on it," said Kai, "And see if you can wake Jim and the stone holders while you're at it."

"It's an emergency," said Ryo, "All you have to do is flip up the lid and press the big red button."

"Which covered big red button? There's more than one!" said Kai.

"God! You'd think that Otaku could at least label the important ones," said Ryo as he flipped up the lid nearest him and pushed the button. Immediately, the red lights began to flash and the alarm started blaring.

"That'll certainly make several of them angry," said Kai.

* * *

Takuya was dreaming. In his dream, he was back home with his friends and family. His little brother, Shinya; the twin, Kouji and Kouichi; Tomoki; Junpei; Izumi; Bokomon; Neemon; and Patamon were all there. In his dream, he saw himself with Izumi leaning against him with his arms wrapped around her. Things seemed perfect.

That was until a loud noise shattered the dream and caused Takuya to fall out of bed.

"Ouch! Damn alarm!" he cursed as he got up off the floor and rubbed his head. He quickly threw on his clothes and grabbed he Pyro Stone as he rushed off to the briefing room. As he stepped out into the hall, he ran into Daigo.

"Daigo, any idea on what this one about?" asked the goggle boy.

"No idea," replied Daigo as the both ran to the room. When they got there, everyone but Yomiko and Shinji was there, but those two came soon after Takuya and Daigo's arrival.

"You all made it," said Otaku, "I'm glad of it. Especially you, Daigo, because this mission would concern you the most. The Blackhearted are attacking again. This time, their target is Tokyo in the year 2049.

"Tokyo in the year 2049? That's my world!" exclaimed Daigo.

"But why attack there?" asked Link, "Daigo already has the Spark Lens, which is the key to that world."

"They intend to lure Daigo in and take it from him," answered Otaku.

"They're not getting their hands on the Spark Lens," said Daigo.

"They've got a hostage, too," continued Otaku, "A Rena Yanase."

"Did you say Rena?" asked Daigo.

"Yes, I did," said Otaku.

"Girlfriend?" asked Trunks.

Under other circumstances, Daigo would have been embarrassed. But at the moment, he mind was too preoccupied with other thoughts.

"Jim, get the portal ready," ordered Otaku.

"Already on it," said Jim.

"Good luck to you all. And especially you, Daigo," said Otaku.

* * *

"Why do we have to go on this late-night missions, anyway?" yawned Takuya as they exited the portal into the world of Ultraman Tiga. The city was in complete ruins. Buildings that had once stood as a bustling metropolis now lay crumbling in the dust. The Citagon, the headquarters of GUTS, had been almost completely obliterated. Charred skeletons could be found everywhere.

"It's even worse than I thought," said Daigo.

"It's hard to believe that the Blackhearted can do this much damage," said Ami.

"Do not forget that we do not know the true extent of their power," said Meta Knight, "The Blackhearted have destroyed many worlds. They may have powers that even we may not be able to comprehend."

"You're right," said Ashitaka.

"We have to end this terror fast," said Kaiba, "In the past, the only person I really cared about was my brother, Mokuba. But after seeing all the destruction those creatures have caused, I'm willing to help save as many live as possible."

"We all do," said Link.

"Too bad you won't be around long enough to carry that out," said a sinister voice. The stone holders turned and saw Yami Malik standing on some fallen debris.

"It's you!" exclaimed Kaiba.

"Yes, it is me," said Yami Malik as he walked towards the stone holders, "The Blackhearted certainly are something. They are the perfect tools for universal destruction."

"Why do you want to destroy all the worlds?" asked Li.

"It's just what the Blackhearted do," answered Yami Malik, "And soon, this world will be gone, as well."

"You're not getting the Spark Lens!" said Daigo.

"I think I can change that," said Malik. He snapped his fingers and several Blackhearted Shadows appeared with a young woman chained and beaten.

"RENA!" shouted Daigo.

"Surrender the key to this world and she will be freed," said Yami Malik.

"Don't do it!" said Trunks.

"What will it be? The world or the girl?" asked Yami Malik.

"I will not let you have either," said Daigo.

"Then say farewell to the girl," said Malik. As he removed the sheath from his Millennium Rod.

"Someone do something!" shouted Rena.

Meta Knight quickly tore his sword from his scabbard and threw the weapon at Malik's hand. It connected with the Millennium Rod and knocked it out of his hand.

"Fools! You do not know the power of the Blackhearted!" shouted Yami Malik, "Alptraumar, arise!"

The ground began to shake. Large cracks appeared where there were no cracks while making the existent ones even bigger. A massive black monster suddenly burst out from under their feet and roared loudly. It resembled Ultraman's old nemesis, Kilieroid (Kilialien, for those who don't know their original names) Sky Type, but the wings were different and the red light on the side of its chest wasn't there. In addition to that, it also has sharp spines running down its back as well as a few others projecting from its shoulders and elbows.

"It's him," said Daigo.

"I'll take care of him," said Kaiba, "And I have just the monster to deal with it: God of the Obelisk, arise!"

"Wait!" said Daigo, "I want to do this."

"Are you sure?" asked Takuya.

"Positive," said Daigo.

"Good luck," said Ami.

Daigo stepped forward and took the Spark Lens out. As he did so, it touched the Shine Stone. There was a brilliant flash of light and a moment later, the crystal of light had replaced the Spark Lens' crystal. Daigo held up the ancient treasure and the bindings released the Shine Stone, which glowed bright.

__

OMNI! POWER! SPEED!

The Spark Lens, combined with the power of the Shine Stone, empowered Daigo and he transformed into the warrior of light, Ultraman Tiga.

"Good luck, Daigo," said Li.

"In my experience, there's no such thing as luck," said Kaiba.

"Well, by the looks of things, our luck is running short," said Meta Knight, backing closer to the group as several Blackhearted Shadows and Armored Blackhearted appeared.

"Farewell," said Yami Malik. He retrieved the Millennium Rod and slipped it back into its sheath before disappearing into a dark portal.

"I'm ready," said Takuya, "SPIRIT EVOLUTION!"

**__**

"AGNIMON!"

"MERCURY CRYSTAL POWER!" shouted Ami.

Link, Trunks, Li, Meta Knight, and Ashitaka drew their swords and stood ready. Yomiko opened her briefcase and took out several sheets of paper. Kaiba pulled out several cards from his deck and summoned his Battle Ox, Mystic Horseman, Hitotsu-Me Giant, Maha Vailo, and Saggi the Dark Clown. Rokusho unfastened his cape and threw it aside.

"Let's go!" said Agnimon, "SALAMANDER BREAK!" He spun around rapidly, surrounding himself with a tornado of flames. A loud crunching sound was heard and the flames dissipated, revealing Agnimon with his foot slammed right into the chest of an Armored Blackhearted.

"Battle Ox, Axe Slam attack!" ordered Kaiba, "Saggi the Dark Clown, attack with Dark Light!" The two monsters complied immediately. While the Battle Ox hacked away with its axe, Saggi the Dark Clown powered up several balls of black light and launched them one at a time.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ultraman Tiga and Alptraumar were ready to commence fighting. The warrior of light and the monster of darkness circled each other for a moment, their eyes never leaving each other for even one moment. Alptraumar suddenly rushed in and swung a fist at Ultraman. The armor-clad giant dodged the punch and countered with one of his own. It connected with Alptraumar's chest, causing the massive monster to stumble back a bit. Ultraman quickly grabbed the back of his opponent's head and began to knee him continuously in the stomach.

Alptraumar tried to break free from Tiga's hold, but to no avail. Thinking fast, the giant monster suddenly became a shapeless mass of darkness and escaped his position before re-materializing into his solid form. Truth be told, Ultraman was surprised by such a move, which allowed Alptraumar a chance to attack. He ran up to the warrior of light from behind and smashed his foot into his back. He delivered more blows before tossing him aside. Fortunately, Ultraman was able to roll back onto his feet. Staying down on one knee, he placed both arms across his chest then threw them both forward, firing the Tiga Slicer cutter beam. The beam hit Alptraumar and Ultraman was immediately on him once again.

The ancient warrior grabbed the nightmarish creature and slammed him into the ground. He then got onto his back and started punching while keeping Alptraumar's head down with one hand. However, just as he had escaped Ultraman's previous hold on him, the Blackhearted monster simply de-materialized into darkness and re-materialized once he was away. Ultraman could clearly see that this was not going to be an easy battle.

* * *

"There's still too many!" said Trunks. He had already transformed into a Super Saiyan in order to increase his power to defeat more Blackhearted at once, but they just seemed to keep on multiplying.

"We have to keep fighting," said Link as he cast Din's Fire once again for the eleventh time.

"This may take a while," said Rokusho, "CHANBARA SWORD!"

Meta Knight kept dashing back and forth from one enemy to another slashing away with his sword and firing Sword Beams at distance ones. Even though his was only about the size and shape of a bowling ball, he was still able to keep up with a constant pace.

"I'm going to bring in more firepower!" said Agnimon right before several Digicodes surrounded his body.

**__**

"Agnimon Slide Evolution! VRITRAMON!"

The Digicodes disappeared and in Agnimon's place stood a big red armored dragon with wings covered with orange feathers.

"FLAME STORM!" shouted Vritramon. His entire body was engulfed in flames as he flew through the enemy ranks, burning them as he passed.

"ELEMENT FIRE! COME TO MY AID!" shouted Li. Pressing the hilt of his sword against the incantation, he sent a stream of flames at the Armored Blackhearted. However, he was completely unaware of the twelve Blackhearted that was right behind him. That was until Vritramon blasted them all into oblivion with his Corona Blaster.

"Thanks," said Li as a stream of sparking white energy passed over their head and hit yet another minion.

"Blue-Eyes White Dragon, attack again with White Lightning!" ordered Kaiba. His dragon roared in acknowledgement and shot another beam at another group of Blackhearted.

A spear made out of paper impaled another Blackhearted through the chest as Yomiko moved as fast as she could. She had done a good job of keeping the dark minions down. Unfortunately, though, she was beginning to run out of paper.

"MERCURY AQUA RHAPSODY!" shouted Sailor Mercury. Her attack hit several of the Shadows at once and destroyed them.

* * *

By now, Alptraumar was beginning to use his own energy attacks. He was firing bolts of dark energy from his hands at Ultraman, who kept evading them, but was beginning to show some signs of fatigue. He stopped dodging and stood up. As soon as Alptraumar fired more shots, Ultraman quickly put up an Ultra Shield to protect himself. The blasts hit the barrier of light, doing no damage.

However, Alptraumar didn't seem to care. His eyes lit up bright red and he stared straight into Ultraman's eyes. The warrior of light suddenly grabbed his head in pain and collapsed onto the ground. As this happened, the biotic sensor on his chest began to flash red.

"What's happening to him?" asked Vritramon as he watched from down on the ground.

"Alptraumar's name is derived from the German word for 'nightmare,'" explained Meta Knight, "And just as his name suggests, he is plunging Ultraman Tiga's mind into one massive nightmare with no chance of escape."

"No escape?!" exclaimed Ashitaka.

"Then how is he supposed to get free?" asked Vritramon.

"Guess we have to help Ultraman," said Trunks.

"Alright, then. I summon the Lord of Destruction: GOD OF THE OBELISK!" announced Kaiba. The card glowed brightly and the massive blue monster appeared. It went over to Alptraumar and attempted to attack, but the deadly creature was able to avoid Obelisk's fist.

"BURNING ATTACK!" shouted Trunks.

"ELEMENT LIGHTNING!" shouted Li.

"MERCURY AQUA RHAPSODY!" Sailor Mercury cried out.

"CORONA BLASTER!" shouted Vritramon.

The rest of the stone holders did everything they could, but nothing would work. Alptraumar was ready to kill Ultraman for good.

Suddenly, a bright white light shone from the crystal on Ultraman's helmet. The light shot upward into the sky and took on the form of a mythical winged creature.

"The Stone of Light's spirit has awakened," said Link, "It's the Griffin."

The Griffin descended down on the fallen Ultraman and shone brightly. The darkness in the warrior's mind disappeared and he was soon back on his feet.

"Take him down!" shouted Vritramon.

Ultraman rushed towards Alptraumar and kicked him in the chest. He grabbed the monster's arm and began to smash his free fist into his solar plexus, severely weakening the Blackhearted creature. He then grabbed Alptraumar from behind and tossed him over himself onto the ground. The warrior from Tiga quickly stood up and watched as his opponent slowly rose to his feet.

Ultraman then placed his hands together in front of himself and spread them apart. As he did this, the Griffin reverted back into normal light and added its power to that of Ultraman. The massive giant faced his opponent and placed his arms in an L-style fashion with the right forearm vertical and the left forearm horizontal to support his right arm, creating an L-shape and fired his most devastating attack: the Zepellion Ray.

Alptraumar roared in pain as the white-hit beam of light hit the Blackhearted symbol on his chest and pierced right through it. He stumbled back clutching his wound as he looked up at Ultraman. The giant monster let out one final roar as his body went pitch black and dissipated into darkness.

* * *

"You did it, Daigo!" said Takuya.

"Yeah. I'm just glad Rena's now in safe hands," said Daigo.

"And we've managed to save this world, too," said Shinji.

"I don't think so," a voice rang out.

The stone holders turned to see a boy no older than fifteen years of age with silver hair and turquoise eyes standing on a large pile of rubble. He was dressed in dark blue armor with some red on his arms and some sort of white fur cloak around his waist. In his hand was some sort of black and red key.

"Who are you?" asked Link.

"My name…is Riku," said the boy.

"Look at what he has around his neck," said Meta Knight.

The stone holders looked and gasped. Around Riku's neck was a black crystal attached to a black lanyard.

"But that…" began Li.

"Yes, it is. A Stone," said Riku, "This is the Shadow Stone of Darkness."

"So the Blackhearted have their own stone holders, too," Link thought out loud.

"So why did you come here?" asked Yomiko.

"I've come to destroy this world," said Riku.

"You can't," said Daigo, "You don't have the key."

"I don't intend to use this world's key," said Riku, "I have my own."

"WHAT?!" exclaimed the stone holders.

"This Keyblade shall unlock this world's core, allowing me to consume it into darkness," said Riku as he held up the key in his hand.

"We won't let you do that!" said Takuya.

"What's there to stop me?" asked Riku. He turned his Keyblade around in his hand and plunged the end of it into the ground and turned it as though he were unlocked a door. The spot he had struck began to give off an eerie dark purple aura as Riku's Shadow Stone began to glow.

"We have to stop him now!" said Kaiba.

"Spirit of the Shadow Stone, consume this world's core with your eternal darkness!" said Riku. The Shadow Stone responded and a mass of darkness emerged and took on the shaped of a winged creature with the body of a lion and a humanoid head.

"It's a sphinx!" exclaimed Ami.

"Spirit of darkness, do your stuff. Unleash your power upon this world!" ordered Riku. The Sphinx nodded and plunged into the abyss created by Riku's Keyblade.

"We have to get out of here now!" said Rokusho as things began to disappear into the shadows, which were now increasing exponentially in size.

"Jim, get us outta here now!" Takuya screamed into the com device Otaku had given him. The portal appeared and the stone holders left with Rena as quickly as possible.

"It's no use running," said Riku. The Sphinx emerged from the abyss and returned to the Shadow Stone as the boy pulled the Keyblade from the ground. A black sphere appeared behind him and he stepped back into it as the city, and the rest of the world, was destroyed by the darkness.

* * *

"Damnit! I can't believe we let that world get destroyed!" said Takuya.

"But now we know for sure that the Blackhearted have at least one stone holder on their side," said Ryo, "All the more reason why our missions are now more important than ever."

"With even one stone holder on their side, the Blackhearted can do incredible amounts of damage and destruction," said Otaku, "Be ready for anything."

**__**

TO BE CONTINUED…

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****

NEXT TIME 

The stone holders embark on a journey to save Dreamland from the Blackhearted. But will Meta Knight's noble soul and his sword be enough to stop the new Blackhearted that lurk on his world?

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Now you all know who possesses the Shadows Stone and its powers of Darkness.

Please review, folks!


	5. Nightmare in Dreamland

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the anime series or video games mentioned in this fanfic.**

I do, however, own the Blackhearted and the ADI.

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UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL 

**Nightmare in Dreamland**

"I still find it hard to believe that we were unable to save Daigo's world," said Takuya as he raised his stick to block another blow from Sora, with whom he was having a training session.

"I find it hard to believe that it was Riku who held the Stone of Darkness," said Sora as he swung his stick at Takuya again. He was blocked once again by the goggle boy, but the Keyblade master quickly dropped down and swept his stick across the floor, knocking Takuya off his feet and onto his back.

"Ouch!" Takuya yelped as he hit the padded floor.

"Be glad we actually have thick mats here," said Sora.

"I'll try to remember that," said Takuya.

"That should be enough for today," said Sora. He walked off the large mat in the center of the room and placed his stick back in the storage box before going over to put his shoes back on.

"Hey Sora. Do you know anything about the holder of the Shadow Stone?" Takuya asked as he sat down on a bench and pulled on his socks.

"Unfortunately, I do," said Sora, "Riku's my best friend. We grew up together on Destiny Islands. He was better at a lot of things, but one day he submitted to the darkness and became a servant of the Heartless."

"Well, if you could save him once, you can do it again," said Takuya, "And besides, you have the rest of us to help you."

"Thanks, Takuya," Sora said to the younger boy.

*          *          *

"So, that world was destroyed?" asked Cherubimon.

"Like I said, I took care of it," said Riku, "You wanna go there and find out for yourself, be my guest." And with that, he turned and walked out the door.

 "Well, now we should decide on where to strike next," said Dr. Meda-Evil.

"We should choose a world where those fools don't have the key yet," said Yami Bakura.

"How about we start off with the weakest world?" suggested Cell.

"You must be joking," said Ganondorf, "And you consider yourself the world's strongest fighter? We won't worry about petty worlds like _Hello Kitty and _Hamtaro_. We should focus on something on a higher scale."_

"And what do you suggest?" asked Zirconia.

"I say our next target should be more than just one world," said Ganondorf, "With their forces divided, they will stand a weaker chance of succeeding."

"Excellent," Yami Malik hissed.

*          *          *

Riku was practicing alone in a large circular room with his Keyblade. He swung the weapon through the air and made occasional forward thrusts.

"Out of all the people possibly, why did I end up with the Shadow Stone?" he thought out loud as he spun around and parried an imaginary blow, "I'm sure there are others who can handle its power even better than I can, so why choose me?" Riku stopped practicing for a while and went off to the side to catch his breath. He closed his eyes for a bit while he ran his hand through his silver hair. Setting his Keyblade aside, he discarded his armor, allowing his normal clothes to appear. Riku could still remember back when he was a pawn for the Heartless. He tried his best to avoid repeating such and event, but little did he know that his alliance with the Blackhearted was somewhat similar. Sighing, he picked up his Keyblade and re-donned his armor before resuming his training.

*          *          *

"You failed to save a world?" asked Otaku.

"For some reason, the Blackhearted were able to bypass the fact that they needed that world's key," said Kai, "But now we know who possesses the powers of Darkness."

"But that still leaves the question about who has the powers of Earth, Psychic, and Chaos," said Richie.

"Any of you have any clues?" asked Otaku. The members of the ADI shook their heads in response. The leader of the Anime Defense Initiative stood up from behind his desk and walked towards the door.

"Sir, where are you going?" asked Ryo.

"To see if I can do anything to correct the situation," said Otaku as he left.

"You can't blame him," said Squall.

"Guess we can't," said Kai.

*          *          *

Things seemed fairly quiet in Dreamland. The castle was still standing tall and proud over Cappy Town. And as usual, King Dedede was scheming to get rid of Kirby, although he wasn't having much success.

"Do you think the king will try to get rid of Kirby again?" Tiff asked her brother.

"Who knows?" replied Tuff, "The king's been pretty freaked out ever since those weird guys attacked."

"True," said Tiff.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. Fololo and Falala answered it and standing there in the hallway were Sword Knight and Blade Knight.

"We've searched everywhere for Meta Knight," said Sword Knight, "He's nowhere to be found."

"That's really odd," said Tiff, "Meta Knight's usually around to help us out whenever we need him."

"Maybe those creepy things took him," suggested Tuff.

"No, not likely," said Blade Knight.

"They're right," said Tiff, "It's not like Meta Knight to get taken away like that."

Just then, there was another knock at the door. This time, Tiff went to answer it and found herself looking into the face of the monster hunter, Knuckle Joe.

"No luck finding Meta Knight," said Joe, "Just a whole bunch of N.M.E.'s monsters. I just hope that at least Kirby's okay."

"We all do," said Tiff.

*          *          *

Meta Knight was busy sparring with Squall. Sword clashed against Gunblade as the two warriors' weapons met halfway.

"Take this!" said Squall as he ran towards the armored knight. He jumped up into the air while slashing upward and brought his Gunblade down as he landed. Fortunately for Meta Knight, he was able to dodge the blow.

"One must never underestimate his opponent," said Meta Knight. He swung his sword and fired a Sword Beam at Squall, knocking his Gunblade clean out of his hand.

"Your skills are excellent," Squall commented.

"I was trained to fight against the Nightmares," said Meta Knight as he re-sheathed his sword and wrapped his cloak around him.

"Who are the Nightmares?" asked Sora.

"Creatures created by the notorious N.M.E.," explained Meta Knight, "The Star Warriors were a force with whom the Nightmares battled. In the end, the Star Warriors won the war, but so few remained. I was one of those few."

"Somehow, I get the feeling that the Blackhearted are going to try to control the Nightmares," Squall muttered.

"They already have," Meta Knight said gravely.

*          *          *

Kaiba was sitting in the lounge looking over his deck. Since he was now able to bring the inanimate objects to life, he had to reorganize his strategies. Casting a glance over to the side, he focused on his four rarest cards: his three Blue-Eyes White Dragons and God of the Obelisk. He soon began to wonder if the Blackhearted had possession of any of the other God cards. Since Malik was on the side of the evil creatures, he was certain that they had Sun Dragon, God of Ra. But he was completely unsure if the same held for Saint Dragon, God of Osiris.

In another corner of the room, Takuya was scrolling through the Spirits stored inside his D-Scan. With the Human and Beast Spirits of Fire, he could use them to Double Spirit Evolve into Ardhamon. Unfortunately, he was still two sets of Spirits short of reaching his Zeta Hybrid form. He had the Human and Beast Spirits of Earth and Wood scanned and stored, but he still needed the Spirits of Wind and Ice. Upon recalling the sacred element, he suddenly remembered his friends, who had fallen victim to the Blackhearted that had attacked the Digital World. The memories brought back the pains he had the day he received the Pyro Stone. Takuya swore silently to himself that he would destroy the Blackhearted or die trying.

Elsewhere in ADI Headquarters, Shinji was lost in thought. In the past few battles, he had done nothing to help the team defeat the Blackhearted. He knew he was weak and he was sure that the others knew it, too. But without EVA-01, he was completely helpless.

The other stone holders – unlike Kaiba, Takuya, and Shinji – were busy training instead of thinking up strategies, mourning over lost friends and family, or wallowing in self-pity. But everyone knew that they had to be ready for the Blackhearted and they would use any means necessary.

*          *          *

"A summon gem?" Sora asked.

"Exactly," said Otaku, "We've been trying to recover any lost souls from different worlds. Unfortunately, we don't have the means to bring them back to life. So we've decided to turn these lost souls into temporary summon gems."

"And you want me to use them," Sora guessed.

"Partially, but I also need you to free them from their current locked state," corrected Otaku.

Sora sighed and turned to face the spherical gem on the table. He took out his Keyblade and aimed it at the gem. Just as the Keyblade had shot beams of light to seal Keyholes, it now shot a beam of light at the gem, unlocking it.

"So what's this one called?" asked Richie.

"Menchi," answered Otaku.

Silence fell upon everyone in the room.

"Are you telling us that Sora just unsealed a dog?" asked Kai.

"We were running out of food," said Otaku, causing everyone to fall over in disbelief.

"You wanted that dog just so we could eat it?!" Richie practically screamed.

"You have a better idea?" asked Otaku, "If so, I'd love to hear it. Because our food supply IS running low."

"We've lost our main suppliers thanks to the Blackhearted. The only thing we can do now is go to another world and take what we can," said Squall.

"You know we can't meddle in the affairs of other worlds," Ryo reminded the Gunblade wielder.

"That won't be necessary. The Blackhearted have done that, already," replied Squall.

"Good point," said Ryo, scratching the back of his head.

"So I guess we don't have much choice," said Kai, "The only problem now is trying to find a world that hasn't been destroyed by the Blackhearted, yet."

"Give me a minute," said Otaku. He began to type rapidly on his computer. A short time later, a list of names appeared on his screen.

"That's not a lot," said Albert.

"Well, what choice do we have? We're desperate," said Sora as he began to read the list, "Okay, we've got Kattalox Island, Traverse Town, Dreamland, Hoenn, and Monster Island. Take your pick."

"Let's ask the stone holders," suggested Jim, "Besides, they're the ones going to other worlds, not us."

"Right. I'll get them," Ryo volunteered.

"I'll come, too," Richie piped in.

*          *          *

"And then you just push this button and the gravity accelerator will take effect," said Trunks as he explained the machine to Takuya, who had somehow forced himself to get something useful done.

"Thanks," said the ten-year-old.

"And if you need to stop, press this red button," Trunks finished as he pointed to a red button near the edge of the control panel.

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind," said Takuya.

"Well, good luck," said the Z-Fighter as he left the room. The door slid shut behind him and Takuya was left alone in the gravity simulation room.

"Well, best get started," said Takuya, "I'll start off with twice Earth's gravity." He walked over to the control panel and pressed the number two on the keypad. Nodding to himself, he pressed the green button next to it and the lights dimmed.

The first thing that Takuya noticed was that he suddenly felt heavier. He placed his hand on the console to steady himself.

"This is going to be harder than I thought," the Chosen Child said to himself. He decided that it would be best to discard anything that might add weight to his body, which included his shoes, socks, cap, gloves, goggles, and D-Scan. Slowly, he moved away from the console and began to walk around the room, trying to adjust to the new environment.

In another room, Link stood with his shield in his right hand and the Master Sword in his left (he's left-handed, people, if you've never noticed). On every wall, holographic image projectors could be seen.

"Now Link, we're going to generate realistic holographic images for you to battle," Squall explained from the control room via speakers, "Each time you deal a blow, it'll automatically be taken into account and your opponent will appear to be harmed. If your opponent lands a blow on you, you'll only feet a sharp sting."

"Understood," said Link.

"Let's start off with something familiar to you," said Squall as he keyed in some commands. Out in the combat simulation chamber, the projectors lit up. Link watched as a black hole appeared in the floor and from it emerged a Stalfos. The Hylian hero quickly brought up his shield and advanced towards the armed skeleton.

The Stalfos swung its sword at Link, but it only hit his shield. Link took that moment to strike. He withdrew his shield for a moment and slashed with his sword. Stalfos was hit and growled. It swung at Link again, but the warrior backflipped away.

_Now's my chance_, thought the Hero of Time. He quickly whipped out his Longshot and fired at Stalfos. His aim was true and the spearhead struck the undead creature, stunning it. Link quickly went in and slashed.

Stalfos quickly recovered and jumped back. It and Link circled each other for a moment, waiting for the other to make a move.

*          *          *

"Monster Island is definitely out of the question, considering the fact that it's dominated by Godzilla and various other creatures," said Otaku.

"We could go to Hoenn, but none of us have ever been there," said Richie.

"I thought you did," said Shinji.

"No, just as far as Johto," replied the young Pokémon trainer.

"None of us have been to Kattalox Island either," said Kaiba.

"That just leaves Traverse Town and Dreamland," noted Ami.

"Traverse Town's usually pretty quite," Sora said.

"I say we should go to Dreamland," Meta Knight said, "It is the world from which I come and I would like to see how it is doing so far."

"Well, since you put it that way, we might as well check it out," said Otaku.

"If I may suggest, I'd like to take along only a small portion of us," said Meta Knight.

"Why's that?" asked Ryo.

"True that we may fight N.M.E.'s monsters, but I doubt that we will need everyone," explained the cloaked swordsman.

"Alright, take two other stone holders with you. Richie, I want you to accompany them," said Otaku.

"Thank you, Sir," said Meta Knight.

"I'll do my best," said Richie.

*          *          *

It wasn't long before Meta Knight stood in the transporter room with Richie and his selected team, which consisted of Takuya and Li.

"What is this? Kids' day out?" asked Kaiba as he looked down at Meta Knight.

"They may be children, but they will prove to be a great asset in Dreamland," explained the spherical swordsman.

"Not to mention incredible inconspicuous," muttered Jim.

"What do you mean?" asked Li.

"I just took a look at what we have on Dreamland," replied Jim, "It's a regular little kids' cartoon."

"Does anyone else here feel like they've just been insulted?" asked Takuya.

"We should also try to find the key to Dreamland's core while we are there, in case the Blackhearted strike," continued Meta Knight.

"Good idea," said Jim, "Anyway, time to get going." He keyed in the coordinates and the portal opened. Meta Knight walked in first followed by Takuya, Li, and Richie.

*          *          *

"Jim obviously wasn't kidding," said Richie as he looked around. The three stone holders and one ADI official had stepped out into the center of Cappy Town. There was no sign of the Blackhearted and the Cappies seemed to be happy. The Cappy children were playing while the adults were going about with their business. Chef Kawasaki was busy cooking food in his restaurant, Mr. Curio was studying and dating artifacts, and a Waddle Dee would pass by every now and then.

"Looks like something my brother would watch," commented Takuya.

"Come. We must go to the castle," said Meta Knight. He led the three kids out of Cappy Town and up a long winding slope. At the top was a large seemingly deformed castle with a flag on each tower. As they approached the drawbridge, a creature with a single large eye appeared over the portcullis.

"Halt! Who goes there?" shouted the Waddle Doo.

"It is I," replied Meta Knight, "I have brought along a few companions."

"Come in, Meta Knight! The king has been expecting you," the Waddle Doo replied back.

"King?" asked Richie as the four of them entered the castle.

"Cappy Town is ruled by King Dedede," explained Meta Knight, "He has ruled for years. However, he has a hatred for a certain resident of Dreamland by the name of Kirby."

"Kirby," Li repeated.

The group soon reached the doors to the throne room. Meta Knight motioned the others to remain in the corridor while he spoke with the king. So Takuya, Li, and Richie were left to sit on a bench just outside the throne room while Meta Knight entered.

*          *          *

"Good day, Sire," said Meta Knight as he knelt down before the gluttonous monarch.

"Where in tarnations have you been all this time, Meta Knight?" demanded King Dedede.

"I apologize for my absence," said Meta Knight, "I have been away on a crusade to…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever. Just make sure you do what I told you to do," said the king, cutting off Meta Knight.

"Yes, Sire," said Meta Knight. He bowed before turning around and walking out of the throne room.

"Somethin' fishy's going on here," said King Dedede.

"I know what you mean, Sire. And where in blazes do you think Meta Knight got that blue crystal from?" added Escargoon.

"What does it matter, anyway?" asked the king, "Anyway, let's see if we can't get us another monster to clobber that Kirby." He pushed a few buttons on the armrest of his throne and the lights dimmed. The wall slid open and a large screen came out. Openings in the floor and ceiling emerged and from them came Dedede's monster transporter. Turning to the screen, the king watched as the face of the N.M.E salesman appeared.

"Welcome back to Nightmare Enterprises, King Dedede!" greeted the salesman. Even though N.M.E. had been taken over by the Blackhearted, King Dedede knew nothing about it, so it was easy to make him think that they were still called Nightmare Enterprises, rather than Blackhearted Enterprises.

"I need a new monster that'll take care of that Kirby," the king demanded.

"Anything in particular?" asked the salesman.

"Make an offer," said Dedede, waving his hand at the screen.

"Well, we've got one that'll get that Star Warrior, for sure," said the salesman.

"Well then, put it through," ordered the king as he pressed another button on his armrest. Almost immediately, the monster transporter hummed to life as light flashed and sparks flew. The king watched eagerly, hoping that it would be a powerful creature.

*          *          *

"Well?" asked Takuya.

"The king is still as I remember," said Meta Knight as he, Takuya, Richie, and Li walked through the castle corridors. As they turned a corner, they ran into Meta Knight's two companions: Sword Knight and Blade Knight.

"Meta Knight! It's good to see you again!" said Sword Knight.

"Where have you been all this time?" asked Blade Knight.

"It is a long story," said Meta Knight.

"Who are those guys?" asked Blade Knight.

"Allow me to introduce you to Takuya Kanbara, Li Syaoran, and Richie Park," said Meta Knight. (A/N: That is not Richie's official last name.)

"It hasn't been easy without you, Meta Knight," said Sword Knight, "The king's been ordering a lot of monsters I don't think Kirby can keep up to all of them."

"These monsters are weird. They're all black and we can't hit them. Some of them have a picture of a black heart on their chests," added Blade Knight.

"What…" said Li.

"Did…" said Takuya.

"You…" said Richie.

"Say?" finished Meta Knight, "Please leave us for a moment."

"Whatever you say, Sir," said Sword Knight.

As soon as Sword Knight and Blade Knight had left, Takuya, Richie, Li, and Meta Knight quickly huddled together.

"Did you guys hear what I heard?" asked Richie.

"Definitely," replied Li.

"There's no doubt about it. The Blackhearted are here," said Meta Knight.

"But why did the headquarters' computers not pick up the signal?" Takuya wondered.

"I am not sure. But we must be on alert," said Meta Knight, "I fear that the king may be behind this."

"Why is that?" asked Takuya.

"Remember what I said about the king having a hatred for Kirby? Well, he is always ordering monsters from Nightmare Enterprises to destroy him. Perhaps he has been ordering Blackhearted," explained Meta Knight.

"Still, why didn't the computers pick them up?" asked Li.

"I can answer that," said Richie, "The Blackhearted prey on the darkness in people's hearts. Our computers were designed to detect Blackhearted that react to that darkness. But because the king is ordering them online, they never picked up the signals because the Blackhearted weren't drawn to this world."

"Sounds logical," said Li.

"Indeed, it does. But just in case, we should try to keep an eye on the king," said Meta Knight, "Somehow, I feel that the Blackhearted will soon have a reason to come to Dreamland on their own."

"Agreed," said Takuya.

"We should also try to look out for Kirby," added the spherical swordsman.

"Uh, out of curiosity, what does Kirby look like?" asked Richie.

"Well…" Meta Knight began. He never finished as a pink round creature walked up to them and stopped. It made some sort of sound and waved at them.

"This is Kirby," said Meta Knight. Takuya, Li, and Richie just sweatdropped.

"You have to got be kidding me," Takuya muttered.

*          *          *

"Any Threes?" Sora asked.

"Go fish," replied Ryo.

Sora reached over and drew a card from the deck between him and Ryo. The two of them were on monitor duty and it was pretty clear that sitting in a small room for a few hours surrounded by computer monitors filled with maps stats on different worlds was incredibly boring.

"Got any Kings?" asked Ryo.

"Here," said Sora as he pulled the King of Spades from his hand and handed it to Ryo, who placed it to the side along with the King of Diamonds.

"Thank you very much," said Ryo with a bit of a smirk.

"You know, I have never been able to look at playing cards the same way ever since my trip to Wonderland," said Sora.

"What happened?" asked Ryo.

"I fought an army of cards," Sora replied.

"Betcha I've been through something weirder," said Ryo.

"Like what?" Sora shot back.

Ryo opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out since the alarms in the room suddenly went off. The two brunettes quickly turned around in their chairs and began to type wildly on their keyboards.

"Try to isolate the sector, first," said Ryo.

"Done," said Sora, "Now isolating world." Keys tapped and monitors flashed as the two of them worked like mad. Finally, Sora was able to bring up an image of the emergency.

"I've isolated the system. Location: the Pop Star," said the Keyblade Master.

"Which world?" Ryo quickly asked.

"Dreamland," answered Sora, "That's where Takuya, Richie, Li, and Meta Knight are!"

*          *          *

Takuya, Meta Knight, Richie, and Li were just walking back into Cappy Town when several dark shadows suddenly emerged from the ground.

"Blackhearted!" exclaimed Richie. Li and Meta Knight tore their swords from their scabbards and stood ready.

"SPIRIT EVOLUTION!" shouted Takuya.

**_"AGNIMON!"_**

Richie took out two Pokéballs and threw them forward. "Zippo! Happy! Come out!" he shouted. The two red and white orbs hit the ground and from them popped out Richie's Charmeleon and Butterfree.

"We must act quickly!" said Meta Knight. He ran towards the Shadows and began slashing at them with his sword.

"ELEMENT LIGHTNING! COME TO MY AID!" shouted Li. He placed an incantation against the hilt of his sword and the parchment shot forward several bolts of lightning, hitting a few Blackhearted.

"BURNING SALAMANDER!" shouted Agnimon. He smashed his fists together and flames erupted from the backs of his hands and surrounded his arms. He drew both fists back and threw them forward, launching the fiery projectiles at the deadly creatures.

"Happy, Stun Spore! Zippo, Slash attack!" Richie commanded. Happy quickly flew over the Shadows and released a yellow powder from his wings, which paralyzed the creatures. Zippo then went in and slashed them with his claws, destroying them.

"Char…" muttered Zippo. A Soldier suddenly appeared and tried to attack from behind, but the Charmeleon slammed his tail against it, knocking it back, allowing Meta Knight to stab the insignia with his sword.

"There's still too many," said Agnimon.

"We need some help," said Li. Just then, everyone heard a noise behind them. They turned to see Kirby watching the fight.

"Kirby, get out of here! You'll get hurt!" Richie called.

"No wait! Kirby can help us!" said Meta Knight, "Richie, have one of your creatures attack Kirby with an elemental attack."

"WHAT?!" screamed the Pokémon trainer.

"Do it! We don't have much time!" said Meta Knight.

"I'm gonna regret this," muttered Richie, "Sparky, attack Kirby with a Thundershock!"

"Pika!" shouted Sparky. He leapt off Richie's shoulder and launched a bolt of electricity at Kirby.

"Kirby, inhale it now!" shouted Meta Knight.

Kirby nodded and ran forward. He opened his mouth wide and began inhaling large amounts of air. The Thundershock was sucked in and Kirby gulped. He immediately leaps into the air and several bolts of electricity sparked behind him. A golden headband with a bluish gem appeared around his head and a number of lightning bolts appeared on it.

"He changed!" exclaimed Li.

"Kirby has now become Spark Kirby," explained Meta Knight.

Spark Kirby landed on the ground and the Blackhearted suddenly turned on him.

"Kirby, look out!" shouted Agnimon.

Kirby's body began to spark and he suddenly surrounded himself with a powerful electric field. The Blackhearted were shocked upon contact and destroyed. In no time, not one minion was left.

"That's some power," Richie commented as he watched the Star Warrior.

"Quickly, we must head back to the castle!" said Meta Knight.

"Right!" said Agnimon.

Together with Kirby (who had returned to normal for some reason), Richie, Agnimon, Li, and Meta Knight ran as fast as they could back to the castle. Upon reaching the royal structure, they heard a laugh coming from inside.

"That sounds like the king!" exclaimed Meta Knight as they rushed inside. They reached the courtyard and found King Dedede standing by the fountain with his hammer in hand. For reason, though, he seemed a little different.

"Sire! What is going on?" asked the spherical swordsman. Rather than answer, King Dedede rushed at them with his hammer.

"Watch out!" shouted Li. The five of them leapt away just as the king brought down his hammer, slamming it into the ground.

"FIRE DARTS!" shouted Agnimon. He pelted the king with a series of small fireballs. The gluttonous monarch stumbled back, but quickly recovered.

"Zippo, Flamethrower!" ordered Richie.

"Char!" replied Zippo. He opened his mouth and launched a stream of flames at King Dedede. The king evaded the attack and smashed Zippo into a wall with his hammer. The Charmeleon slumped to the ground, dazed.

"Uh-oh. Zippo, return!" shouted Richie. He held out Zippo's Pokéball and a red beam of light shot. It hit Zippo and recalled him back to his ball.

"Agnimon, let's hit him together," suggested Li.

"Good idea," said Agnimon, "BURNING SALAMANDER!"

"ELEMENT FIRE! COME TO MY AID!" shouted Li.

The two fire attacks merged together into a massive fire blast and struck the king with incredible force. Dedede stumbled for a bit while he tried to steady himself with his hammer.

"Give it up, Dedede! It's no use," said Richie.

The king shook his head to regain his senses and grinned. A large shadow covered the area and a massive creature dropped down into the courtyard. It almost seemed like a combination of all of N.M.E's previous monsters. Its back was covered with Kracko's spines, its mouth was filled with Wolfwrath's teeth, its body looked like it was made of stone like Blocky, Bugsy's pincers were around its mouth, its head was surrounded by Fire Lion's mane, and it carried Slice 'n Splice's weapons in two of its four hands. King Dedede climbed onto its head and positioned himself between the monster's horns, which looked a lot like Bad Sheep's.

"We're in trouble," said Agnimon.

"Say hello to Gargantuas!" shouted King Dedede.

Gargantuas reached out and slammed its hand down on the ground, knocking everyone down.

"This isn't good," said Li.

"We nay not stand much of a chance against it, but we must try," said Meta Knight.

Gargantuas moved forward and advanced towards Kirby. The pink Star Warrior tried to run, but it turned out that he was backed up against the wall.

"Kirby!" called a voice. Everyone looked up to see Sword Knight and Blade Knight. Sword Knight drew his sword and threw it at Kirby. The Star Warrior quickly inhaled the weapon and swallowed it. Immediately, he leapt up and a green and yellow cap appeared on his head. He then reached to the side and pulled out a sword.

"He has become Sword Kirby!" Meta Knight exclaimed.

Gargantuas roared as it stomped its way over to the heroes, ready to squash them underfoot.

"We should probably take this to the air," said Li.

"I hear ya," replied Agnimon.

**_"Agnimon Slide Evolution! VRITRAMON!"_**

Li and Meta Knight climbed onto Vritramon's back while Richie summoned his Fearow and climbed onto its back.

"What about Kirby?" asked Richie.

"Kabu, send us the Warp Star!" Meta Knight said into the air.

Deep within the woods, the wise old tree opened his mouth and the star-shaped transport flew out and zipped through the sky towards the castle. As soon as it came within visual range, Kirby leapt up and made a perfect landing on the Warp Star.

"You guys can fight from up here," said Vritramon as he allowed Li and Meta Knight to disembark from his back onto the terrace of the castle walls. After giving each other reassuring nods, Vritramon flew back down to resume the battle.

"Get him!" ordered King Dedede. Gargantuas followed through with his orders and proceeded to try to slash Vritramon with the Moon Rod.

"CORONA BLASTER!" shouted the Beast Hybrid. The blasters on his arms rotated so that the barrels were facing forward and he let loose a barrage of red-hot laserfire.

"ELEMENT LIGHTNING!" shouted Li. With a little bit of repositioning of his sword and incantation, he was able to aim the blast down at Gargantuas while Meta Knight fired a few Sword Beams.

Kirby was continuously flying around the courtyard on the Warp Star avoiding attacks while making passes of his own.

"Don't let them land another hit!" shouted Dedede.

"We're going to need some help," said Li. He sheathed his sword and closed his eyes while placing his hands on either side of the Arbor Stone. "Arbor Stone, know my plight. Release the light!" The emerald-green crystal immediately lit up and leaves began to blow around Li as the Bear Spirit of the stone emerged and roared.

"Kirby, let's get out of the way," said Vritramon as he led the pink Star Warrior away.

"Bear Spirit, attack now!" ordered Li. The Bear Spirit of the Arbor Stone roared loudly and flew down towards Gargantuas.

"Don't let it hit!" ordered the king, "Attack! ATTACK!" He stood up and began hitting Gargantuas' head with his hammer in an attempt to get it to move. He only succeeded in getting knocked off by the monstrous behemoth. The Bear Spirit opened its glowing green maw and smashed itself into Gargantuas.

"Got him," said Li.

Gargantuas planted its feet into the ground and began pushing against the Bear Spirit. Both forces pushed their full weight forward with maximum strength. Eventually, Gargantuas gave and the Bear pushed it backwards. The gargantuan monster smashed through the wall of the castle and was pushed all the way to the edge of the cliff until the Bear Spirit ran out of energy and returned to the Arbor Stone.

"We got him!" cheered Richie, "Let's go get him!"

"Way ahead of ya!" said Vritramon as he flew towards Gargantuas, "FLAME STORM!"

Meta Knight and Li got a ride from Richie and they flew towards the hybrid monster with Kirby flying alongside them.

"Sparky, THUNDER!" ordered Richie.

"Pi-KA!" shouted Sparky as he charged up.

"ELEMENT LIGHTNING!" shouted Li.

Both electrical attacks flew straight towards Gargantuas followed by a series of Sword Beams from both Kirby and Meta Knight, all of which exploded against the monster's body upon contact.

"Did we get him?" asked Meta Knight.

The smoke slowly cleared. To everyone's horror and/or dismay (whichever you personally think works better), Gargantuas was still alive.

"This…is bad," said Richie.

Gargantuas suddenly let loose an enormous blast of energy, sending everyone flying back. Vritramon hit the ground hard and devolved back into Takuya. Li attempted to use his Wind incantations to slow his descend, but failed. Richie tried Happy's Whirlwind, but had just as much success as Li did with the Wind incantation. Kirby changed back to normal bounced along the ground until he halted against a tree.

"Wait a second. Where's Meta Knight?" asked Takuya. Looking back at the cliff, he saw Meta Knight backed up against the edge with Gargantuas looming over him. "Meta Knight, get out of there!"

Meta Knight bravely faced Gargantuas with his hand gripping his sword tightly. He knew he stood an extremely slim chance to none against the massive monster. But as a Star Warrior, it was his duty.

"Meta Knight, don't!" screamed Richie.

"You'll be killed!" Li added.

"I will not run," Meta Knight said calmly, "I am a Star Warrior. It is my sworn duty to be rid of N.M.E.'s monsters." The waves crashed against the base of the cliff as the spherical swordsman stood facing Gargantuas. His sapphire-blue cape flapped in the ocean wind. Gripping his sword in both hands, he took up his stance, prepared for anything. A light as blue as the sea slowly began to radiate from the Aqua Stone around Meta Knight's neck. At the same time, a light blue aura surrounded his body.

"What's going on?" asked Takuya.

"It looks like the spirit of the Aqua Stone is finally awakening," Richie replied.

A particularly large wave crashed into the cliff, sending a massive spray of water into the air behind Meta Knight, who was now glowing brightly. The Aqua Stone suddenly flashed and filled the area with blue light.

"Ow…" said Li.

Another wave of water swept up behind Meta Knight. Instead of going down like all the other waves, a part of the water remained in the air in the form of a large serpent. Its eyes were bright yellow and it appeared to have fins on various parts of its body.

"It's the Leviathan!" exclaimed Richie.

"It even fits the Aqua Stone," said Li as he got up.

Gargantuas looked up from Meta Knight at the Leviathan that hovered behind the Star Warrior.

"Now you shall see the power of the Aqua Stone of Water!" said Meta Knight. He swung his sword at Gargantuas and Leviathan launched itself at the monster. Gargantuas attempted to deal a blow to the spirit, but its weapons merely passed through its long slender body. Leviathan wrapped itself around its foe and squeezed. It then turned to face the ensnared monster and blasted it with a powerful high-pressure jet of water.

"Finish him off!" shouted Takuya.

Meta Knight guided Leviathan with his sword. He pointed the weapon over the cliff and the water spirit dove over the edge and into the water, dragging Gargantuas with it.

"He did it!" yelled Richie.

"Yeah!" cheered Takuya and Li as they high-fived each other (A/N: Okay, so that's a little out of character for Li).

Leviathan resurfaced and floated up to Meta Knight. The two of them locked eyes for a while, looking into each other's eyes. A few moments later, Leviathan reverted into its elemental form and flew into the Aqua Stone.

"Thank you for your assistance," Meta Knight said to the Aqua Stone.

*          *          *

"What do y'all thing you're doin'?!" demanded King Dedede.

"We're here to destroy your monster transporter so you can't order new monsters," answered Takuya as he picked up a pipe.

"Considering what happened here not too long ago, it would be for the best," said Li.

"Now hold it right there!" started the king, "You lay one finger on that machine and I'll…"

"Which one? This?" asked Takuya as he smashed the screen of one device with the pipe.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" screamed King Dedede.

"ELEMENT LIGHTNING!" Li unleashed several bolts of lightning, which overloaded the circuits of several machines and destroyed them.

"Sparky, Thunderbolt! Zippo, Fire Spin!" ordered Richie. Sparky let loose a powerful bolt of thunder and struck the machines on the walls while Zippo created a tornado of flames and launched it at the main transporter.

"This is for your own good, Sire," said Meta Knight. He swung his sword and launched a Sword Beam up at the screen on which the king spoke with the N.M.E. salesman.

"Stop, please! All this stuff cost me a fortune!" pleaded Dedede.

"Well, you're a king. I'm sure you can afford a whole new set, _your highness," said Takuya, emphasizing the last part of his sentence. He swung the pipe one more time before tossing it to the side and stepping back to look back and admire his handiwork, "Not bad, if I do say so myself." Meta Knight, Li, and Richie joined Takuya and took a look. All of Dedede's monster transportation equipment had been completely destroyed._

"Well, we'll be off now," said Richie.

"And don't call us," added Takuya.

The doors closed behind them as the four of them left the throne room, leaving Dedede sitting on his throne amidst the wreckage. The gluttonous monarch heaved a heavy sigh and muttered something about declaring bankruptcy.

*          *          *

"Think the king learned his lesson?" asked Li.

"If he hasn't, we've already made sure that he doesn't repeat the same mistake again," said Meta Knight.

"Well, we shouldn't have to worry about this world being destroyed," said Takuya as he placed his hands behind his head.

"What makes you say that?" asked Richie.

"I found this inside the castle fountain," said Takuya as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a bright yellow key with a star on the end.

"The Dreamland Key!" exclaimed Meta Knight and Richie.

"I thought we should take it in case the Blackhearted come back," Takuya explained.

"Good idea," said Li.

"Well. It's time to head back," said Richie. He lifted his arm and pressed a button on his wrist communicator. "Beam us back, Jim."

"That's not funny," Takuya muttered as they returned to ADI Headquarters.

*          *          *

No sooner had Takuya, Li, Meta Knight, and Richie left, a dark portal opened and from it emerged two figures. One was Riku, dressed in full armor. The other was a grey-skinned creature with a purple abdomen and tail. Its facial features were covered by a black helmet. Black armor covered its body and shins. A pair of black metallic gauntlets covered its forearms minus its fingers. On a purple lanyard around its neck was a deep purple crystal.

"So this is where the Blackhearted attacked," said Riku as he looked around, "Hmph. So child-like."

_Too peaceful for even the Blackhearted to think of coming here_, said the creature.

"No doubt about it, Mewtwo," the wielder of the Shadow Stone commented.

_Let's get on with it_, said Mewtwo as he stepped up to the edge of a cliff. His eyes lit up with an eerie blue light, which shone through the visor of his helmet. A blue aura surrounded his body as the purple crystal around his neck began to glow.

_Spirit of the Eye Stone, unleash your psychic powers!_ commanded the psychic Pokémon. A purple aura blasted out from the crystal and took on the form of a large winged creature with three heads, each of different animals.

"Get on with it," muttered Riku.

_Chimera, seek out this world's key!_ ordered Mewtwo. All three of Chimera's heads nodded in unison and the spirit of the Eye Stone flew up into the air. After a few minutes, it landed on the ground, shook its heads, and returned to the Eye Stone.

"Nothing?" Riku asked, though the answer was obvious.

_The key is no longer here_, replied Mewtwo.

"We can fix that," said Riku. He held out his hand and his Keyblade appeared in a flash of light. Just as he had done back on Daigo's world, he plunged the weapon into the ground and a black vortex formed where here had struck.

"Spirit of Darkness, oh mighty Sphinx! Plunge this world into darkness!" chanted the silver-haired teen. The Shadow Stone began to pulsate with the powers of darkness and the Sphinx spirit emerged and dove down into the vortex. In no time at all, it consumed the world's core and Dreamland started to fade into the shadows.

_We're done here. Let's go_, said Mewtwo.

"Yes, let's," said Riku after the Sphinx returned to his stone. Together with Mewtwo, the Keyblade wielder left as Dreamland fell into eternal darkness.

*          *          *

"What could have possibly drawn the Blackhearted to that world?" asked Cell as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"The king lured them there," answered Yami Malik, "It was his hatred for the Star Warrior that attracted the Blackhearted. He was unable to control his rage and the darkness in his heart grew until he could no longer control it."

"One must be cautious not to let darkness overcome oneself," said Yami Bakura.

"Don't be so sure of yourself, Bakura. You have difficulty controlling the darkness within, yourself," warned Yami Malik.

"Enough," said Ganondorf, "We must start planning the next attack."

"Perhaps we can add another to our forces," said Cherubimon, "I know of one who will make a great asset."

"Then let's get a move on," said Dr. Meda-Evil.

**_TO BE CONTINUED…_**

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**NEXT TIME:**

Their forces have been divided. Can the stone holders stop the Blackhearted when split into smaller groups? And who possesses the last two stone?

***********************************************************************************************

Well, that's the end of that chapter.

Only two more stones left: Earth and Chaos. Who holds them? Keep reading to find out.


	6. When Our Forces Divide

****

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the official anime characters or other related things.

I do, however, own the ADI and the Blackhearted.

**********************************************************************************************************************

****

UNITED WE STAND AS ONE

When Our Forces Divide

Mewtwo stood in the shadows with his armor plugged into several machines as he contemplated over the last mission. Dreamland was a world of little worth. Only one being bore darkness within his heart. It was clearly a place unfit to spawn Blackhearted. But they had apparently been drawn there by the darkness in King Dedede's heart. In the end, the world was destroyed and the Blackhearted claimed more victims.

In another room, Riku sat, dressed in his normal clothes, eating a small plate of food. It wasn't meager like prisoners' rations, only just enough to fill him up. His Keyblade was leaning against the wall not too far out of his reach. As he ate, he thought about his most recent missions. During those times, he noticed that the worlds he and the others appeared on were all able to be destroyed by them, yet any of the ones they hadn't been to hadn't been destroyed, yet. He wondered why that was the case. Was it because they, as stone holders, possessed more power than the Blackhearted minion? And if that was the case, what would happen once every world had been destroyed? Riku thought hard about these questions but nothing came up.

"You seem to be deep in thought," said a soft male voice. Riku turned and saw a man with long pale blond (almost white) hair wearing a dark brown coat overtop some sort of military uniform. Hanging from around his neck on a brown lanyard was a brown crystal.

"Just thinking about how things are going," replied Riku.

"Can you be more specific?" asked the man.

"Afraid not, Zechs," answered the silver-haired lad.

Zechs Merquise reached up and gathered the brown crystal in his hand. The symbol for Earth appeared to radiate from the core of the gem as the Terra Stone glowed softly.

__

Riku's questions are not without reason, said Mewtwo from the next room, _Why are we the only ones able to bring destruction to worlds while the ranks of the Blackhearted are unable to do so, themselves?_

"I wish you wouldn't read my mind," muttered Riku as he tossed his plate aside.

__

I can hear everything that goes on within people's minds, explained Mewtwo_, However, there is one whom I an unable to hear._

"The warrior of chaos," muttered Zechs as he crossed his arms, "All he does is stand outside on the same balcony overlooking the land of this world." He looked over towards a doorway where the silhouette of a lone figure could be seen.

"What could he possibly be waiting for?" asked Riku, "We don't even know if he's stronger or weaker than us."

__

It appears that he has no heart for battle, and thus remains at his position. It doesn't matter. While he wastes his time, we shall accomplish what Lord Diabolus wishes of us, Mewtwo simply replied.

"I'm surprised that Malik isn't leading them. He seems like a leader to the others," said Riku as he leaned his back against the wall.

"Malik is only a sub-commander," said Zechs, "What interests me the most is what Diabolus has with the leader of the ADI. There seems to be something going on between them."

__

Diabolus and Otaku are clearly bitter rivals who share a special bond, much like him, said Mewtwo as he turned his head back towards the balcony.

"Well, I'm going to turn in. I've been on several missions in a row already and I'm exhausted," said Riku as he picked up his Keyblade, "I'll see you later."

"Perhaps I should retire, too," said Zechs as he walked off with Riku not far ahead of him.

__

As will I, said Mewtwo as he closed his eyes behind the visor of his helmet.

"Are these three truly my brethren?" the mysterious figure thought out loud, "True that Diabolus wishes us to destroy the worlds, but for what purpose? Simply to eliminate a small resistance force? That is the most foolish action anyone can take." A small bird flew by. A sharp sound pierced through the air and the bird fell towards the ground, its head separated from its body.

"Why am I here?" the lone one asked himself as the wind blew through his hair and clothes.

***

"Looks like it's up to each of us now," said Zirconia.

"This plan will work," said Ganondorf.

"Should their forces be divided, we will be able to destroy them much more quickly," ca,e Cherubimon's voice. The air shimmered a bit and the evil Great Angel appeared in the room in his physical form.

"Got tired of hanging on the walls?" asked Dr. Meda-Evil.

"Enough," said Yami Malik, "We all have our tasks. Now we must go and perform them. This time, the ADI will fall!"

"Malik, Lord Diabolus wishes an audience with us," said Yami Bakura.

"Brief change of plans, everyone. To the altar!" Yami Malik quickly called out.

The villains walked through the halls until they reached a chapel. Rows of pews made out of obsidian lined the side as they approached the altar at the front of the room. The altar, itself, was made of obsidian with ancient carvings etched into its black surface. Yami Malik climbed up the thirteen steps leading up to the top of the platform on which the altar sat and kneeled. The others kneeled on the steps behind him.

"Lord Diabolus, we await your presence," said Yami Malik as he bowed his head.

The two burning cauldrons filled with oil burning on either side of the altar suddenly flared up and the flames grew larger and hotter. The pentagram in which the altar stood lit up, as did the pentagram on the sacred table. From the flames emerged the silhouette of a horned creature. Red eyes glowed from the center of what could be assumed as the head. A pair of large bat-like demon wings spread out, broadening the shadows. The dim outlines of arms and facial features could also be seen.

"I see you have all come," said the silhouette.

"And indeed we have, Lord Diabolus," said Yami Malik.

"But where are my loyal stone holders?" asked Diabolus. As soon as those words left his mouth, Riku, Zechs, and Mewtwo stepped forward and kneeled before the altar.

__

We apologize for our tardiness, oh malevolent one, said Mewtwo.

"Apology accepted," was Diabolus' response, "Now, what have you to report?"

"We have successfully destroyed countless worlds, but still nothing regarding the ADI," said Zechs.

"And the Seven Maidens?" asked the demon.

"They are falling into out hands one-by-one," replied Yami Malik.

"We've managed to secure three so far," said Riku.

"So I see," said Diabolus. A flame appeared on the altar's surface and the images of three women could be seen.

"Shinobu Maehara was taken without any trouble, except we had to deal with a girl with an incredible punch who called me a pervert," said Riku.

"We encountered some trouble from the prince, Van Fanel, while removing Hitomi Kanzaki from his world," said Zechs.

__

And we also have Jiyu Nanohana in our possession, said Mewtwo_, As you expected, she transformed into Yagyu Jubei II, but my psychic powers were able to overpower her_.

"Excellent," said Diabolus, "Only four maidens remain. It won't be long before they, too, are secured and I shall be free so that my evil may once again reign supreme! My faithful stone holders, seek out the remaining maidens. As for the rest of you, ensure that those ADI fools do not interfere with my plans."

"Of course, Lord Diabolus," Yami Malik, Yami Bakura, Cell, Dr. Meda-Evil, Ganondorf, Cherubimon, and Zirconia replied, bowing deeply.

__

We shall do our best, said Mewtwo.

"Excellent," said Diabolus. He looked around at his forces and noticed something amiss.

"Is something wrong?" asked Yami Malik.

"Where is the warrior of chaos?" asked the diabolical demon.

"He's not with us right now," answered Riku, "But I guarantee you, he won't disappoint."

"He had better not," said Diabolus as he silhouette disappeared and the flames subsided.

Cell was the first to stand up. "Why don't you tell him to go out there and fight?" he demanded.

"Look, he'll do it when he's ready," said Riku, "Until then, we don't know what he can do or how powerful he is. It's best we leave him for now."

***

Sora was on his way back to his quarters after a trip to the bathroom when Albert stopped him.

"What's wrong now?" asked the Keyblade Master, "It's only one in the morning."

"We just got two summon gems. We need you to unlock them," replied the young cook.

"Can't it wait until morning?" asked Sora, trying to stifle a yawn.

"Otaku wants then unlocked now," said Albert.

"Fine," said Sora. He fetched his Keyblade and aimed it at the two gems. Two beams of light later, the gems were unlocked and two images appeared in them. Inside one, which was blue, appeared some kind of glowing blue dragon. In the other, which was red, the image of a dragon with two mouths lined with rows of sharp teeth came into focus.

"Thanks, Sora," said Albert. He turned but saw that the Keyblade Master's door was shut and guessed that Sora was undoubtedly fast asleep.

"Well?" Jim whispered as he came up from behind Albert.

"They're unlocked," whispered back the cook.

"What've we got?" asked Jim as he took the two gems from Albert.

"I have no idea. Let's ask Otaku."

"You go. I was just up to get a glass of water."

"Jim, you know I keep the kitchen door locked!"

"That's why I'm going now."

"Fine, I'll unlock it for you."

Meanwhile, Takuya laid wide away in bed staring up at the ceiling. He turned over under the covers, trying to get some sleep. He had gotten used to the way things were as they were, but he still had his worries on his mind. He clenched his fist and slammed it into his pillow ,but it did nothing to calm his mind. Sighing heavily, he got out of bed, got dressed, and exited his quarters, hoping that a short stroll might help him to fall asleep.

***

After giving Jim the thirst-quencher he desired, Albert headed down to Otaku's officer, where he found the leader of the ADI working, as usual. Otaku had discarded his cloak, which was hanging on a hook on the wall and his gauntlet had been placed on the side of his desk.

"What is it, Albert?" asked Otaku.

"Sir, we've managed to get Sora to unlock our two recently obtained summon gems," said Albert. He took out the two spherical crystals and placed them on Otaku's desk. The leader picked up both in his hands and examined them closely.

"Sir, if I may?" asked Kai.

"Be my guest," replied Otaku as he handed the blue gem to Kai. The silver-haired Beyblader took the summon gem from Otaku's hand and examined it closely. The image he saw was incredibly familiar.

"Sir, I believe this blue one is the gem for the Bitbeast, Dragoon," said Kai.

"And this red one is clearly one of the three Gods of Duel Monsters," said Otaku, "I'd say it's Saint Dragon, God of Osiris."

"So we've basically got two dragon summons," said Albert.

"Basically, yes," Otaku responded as he took Dragoon back from Kai and placed both summon gems on his desk, "You're dismissed. Go get some rest."

"Thank you," said Albert.

***

The next morning was about as normal as any of the other recent days, which, in reality, was definitely not everyone's definition of normal. Takuya sat slumped over a table in the dining hall, Yomiko was reading, Meta Knight and Rokusho were meditating, Kaiba looked like he didn't care what things were like, Ami was doing something on her computer, Li was looking down at his Lasin Board trying to decide on what to detect with it, Daigo was just waiting, Trunks was drumming his fingers on the table, Ashitaka sat patiently, and Shinji had just come in and sat down.

"Okay everyone, breakfast is served," said Albert as he approached the table with a pushcart. He took the dishes from the cart and slid one to each person.

"With such a big dining hall with so many tables, it's a wonder why all of us have to sit at the same one," said Link.

"You've got a point," said Trunks.

"Hey, we don't tell you guys where to sit. You just somehow end up together," said Albert as he walked off, pushing his empty cart back into the kitchen.

"So, what now?" asked Shinji.

"Who knows? If anything, it'll be another mission," said Kaiba.

Meanwhile at another table, Sora, Squall, Ryo, Richie, Kai, Duero, and Jim were eating their own breakfast.

"So the two summon gems I unlocked were Dragoon and Saint Dragon, God of Osiris?" asked Sora.

"That's what I said," replied Kai.

"From what I've heard, both of them will be pretty useful," said Ryo as he placed another forkful of food into his mouth.

"Dragoon is Tyson's Bitbeast. Its techniques are weather-based, hence its Storm Attack," Kai explained.

"As for the other, we can probably get more information on that one from Kaiba," said Squall.

"We'll ask him later," said Richie.

***

Towards mid-afternoon, the alarms blared and the red lights flashed. The stone holders quickly reported to Otaku's office, where the ADI's leader seemed worried.

"What's wrong?" asked Ashitaka.

"This," said Otaku. He activated the screen behind him and the image displayed showed several worlds flashing red.

"They're attacking more than one world simultaneously!" exclaimed Rokusho.

"That's why I'm worried," said Otaku, "The Blackhearted are aiming to separate our forces so that victory will come easier for them."

"Well, we'll just have to prove them wrong," said Takuya, "We can split up into parties and take each world at the same rate they are. How many worlds are under attack right now?"

"Four," answered Otaku.

"Right. There are twelve of us and four worlds. That's a party of three for each world," said Otaku.

"For a ten-year-old, you know quite a bit," said Kaiba.

"I know," said Takuya as he scratched the back of his head, "Hey!"

"We'll go with Takuya's plan," said Otaku, "We'll separate you into parties of three. So far, only four of you have had your stones' spirits awakened. So we'll put each of you into separate parties in case any of you need those spirits."

"Fine. But who's going with whom?" asked Kaiba.

As if on cue, Ryo suddenly walked in pushing a wheeled table, which was bare except for a round cage with several bingo balls inside it. The Legendary Tamer, himself, was wearing a green dealer's visor as he removed four balls from the cage.

"We'll decide that with this," he explained, "The four balls I've taken out are the ones marked with the names of Li, Daigo, Kaiba, and Meta Knight. The four of you will reach in and pull out two balls. The names on those balls will determine who will be in your party."

"Sounds simple enough," said Ashitaka.

"Kaiba, you're first," said Ryo. He spun the cage around a few times before unhooking the latch and opening it. The Duelist reached in and pulled out two balls.

"Link and Ashitaka," said Kaiba.

"Alright, Link and Ashitaka, you're with Kaiba," said Ryo, "Next up is Li."

Li stepped forward as Ryo spun the cage once again. He reached in and pulled out one ball. It read "TRUNKS". He then reached in for his second ball, which was marked "AMI".

"Trunk and Ami, you're with Li," said Ryo, "Daigo, your turn." He spun the cage for the third time and waited. Daigo reached in and extracted two balls, one marked "TAKUYA", the other marked "YOMIKO".

"Daigo, Takuya, and Yomiko, you're together," said Ryo, "And with only two balls remaining, whoever they are will be with Meta Knight."

Meta Knight jumped onto the table and pulled the last two balls from the cage.

"Rokusho and Shinji," he said.

"And that completes all four parties," said Ryo as he placed all twelve balls back into the cage and wheeled it away.

"Alright troops, listen up. This will be the first time all twelve of you will be separated from each other," said Otaku.

"What about the mission to Dreamland?" asked Takuya.

"That doesn't count," answered Otaku, "Anyway, this will be the first time you won't be working as a large team, so be extra careful. Now, the four worlds that are currently under attack are Hyrule…"

"That's my world!" Link exclaimed.

"Tokyo-3," continued Otaku.

"That's my home," said Shinji.

"West City,"

"That's where I'm from," Trunks commented.

"And an unknown location," Otaku finished, "The only thing our sensors say about it is 'Secret Base.' Alright, here's what we'll do. Since three of those worlds are the homes of three stone holders here, the teams with those particular stone holders will go to those worlds. The remaining team will check out this 'Secret Base.' Clear?"

"Clear!" said the stone holders.

"Crystal!" said Takuya. Everyone just looked at him. "What?!"

***

Jim sat at his post playing a game of solitaire when the stone holders walked in led by Squall.

"Jim, we're going to need you to input four different coordinates," said the Gunblade wielder.

"Can do, but you'll only be able to go to one world at a time," said Jim.

"No problem for us," said Rokusho.

"Alrighty, then. Here goes." Jim typed in the coordinates and looked up at his screen. "First up, West City."

Trunks, Li, and Ami walked up the ramp and disappeared through the portal. Meta Knight, Rokusho, and Shinji were next as they entered the portal to Tokyo-3. Daigo's party went next and the three of them were transported to the "secret base". Kaiba, Link, and Ashitaka were the last to pass through as they entered the world of Hyrule.

***

Shoes and boots tapped loudly against the metallic floor as Daigo, Yomiko, and Takuya emerged from the portal.

"Yomiko, I don't think you need to carry that briefcase with you all the time," said Daigo.

"But I keep a lot of important things in here," said The Paper.

"Well, if it helps us, why not?" said Takuya, "After all, we're on our own now. So, this place ring a bell to anyone?"

"It looks familiar," said Yomiko. As she looked around, she noticed a figure standing in front of an apparently sealed door. It was hard to see, but she could just make out the dim outline of a woman with dark blue hair.

"Nancy-san!" The figure turned and looked in Yomiko's direction for a moment before turning and disappearing through the door, literally.

"Is it my imagination or did she just pass through the door?" asked Takuya.

"Let's go after her!" said Yomiko.

"Yomiko, wait!" called Daigo, but it was no use. Yomiko was already running towards the door.

"Well, guess we won't accomplish anything just by standing here," said Takuya and ran after Yomiko.

"Hey, wait up!" said Daigo.

The three stone holders ran towards the door as quickly as they could. Before they could reach it, though, several Shadows suddenly emerged from the floor and walls.

"It's a trap!" exclaimed Daigo.

"Isn't everything?" Takuya replied.

"Nancy-san…" said Yomiko.

"We'll go after your friend after we take care of these guys," said Daigo as he drew his GUTS Hyper from its holster.

Takuya fished out his D-Scan and held it out. The images of both Spirits of Fire appeared on the screen and a collection of Digicodes appeared around his left hand, which he scanned through his Digivice.

"DOUBLE SPIRIT EVOLUTION!" he shouted.

**__**

"ARDHAMON!"

Yomiko reached into one of her pockets and pulled out several sheets of paper. Holding them in her hand, the sheets stiffened up like cardboard.

"Let's go!" shouted Daigo. He took quick aim and fired several shots, killing a few Shadows.

"BRAHMA SUTRA!" Ardhamon's arms moved at an incredible speed, launching a barrage of fireballs.

Yomiko threw the paper in her hand at the Shadows and the deadly stationary pierced the Blackhearted minions in the head.

"More are coming!" Daigo warned the others.

"Stand back! I'm going to blow down the door!" said Ardhamon. The Warrior of Fire placed his hands in front of him and began to form a massive ball of fire. "BRAHMA SHIL!" Lifting the fireball over his head, he threw it forward with all his might, sending it crashing into the door and obliterating it, along with a portion of the wall.

"Nancy-san!" cried Yomiko as she ran into the next room.

"I swear if she says that one more time…" Ardhamon started.

***

Yomiko walked through the empty corridors of the secret base with a fresh set of paper in her hand. She looked around repeatedly, watching to see if anyone was following her and also in hopes of finding Miss Deep. She heard a shuffling sound behind her and quickly turned, but found nothing.

Continuing on, she eventually found herself outside and was greeted by the sea wind.

"This is the I-jin base," The Paper suddenly realized. Hearing a sound coming from up ahead, she looked in the direction of the noise and saw Miss Deep standing with her back towards her.

"Nancy-san!" Yomiko cried happily as she ran towards her old partner.

Miss Deep turned and looked at Yomiko for a second before she suddenly disappeared. Yomiko stopped running and looked at where Miss Deep had been standing not too long ago.

"But…she was here," she said to herself.

A bolt of electricity suddenly struck the floor near Yomiko. Looking up, she saw a man dressed in somewhat feudal clothing, but he had a box with two electrodes strapped to his back.

"Genai Hiraga," she said.

"Correct," said Genai as he jumped down from the catwalk he had been standing on and landed in front of Yomiko.

"Where is Nancy-san?" Yomiko asked.

"That is something that you shall have to find out for yourself," said Genai, "But you won't get that chance!" Sparks formed between his hands as he prepared to electrocute Yomiko. The agent braced herself for what was to come.

"Griffin, defend Yomiko now!"

A loud eagle screech echoed throughout the base as the Griffin spirit of the Shine Stone leapt in front of Yomiko and took the full force of the attack.

"Good work, Griffin!" said Daigo as he and Ardhamon ran onto the deck.

"Yomiko, are you alright?" asked Ardhamon as he helped Yomiko back onto her feet.

"I'm alright," answered The Paper.

"New partners, I see," said Genai.

"Who's that?" asked Daigo.

"That's Genai Hiraga, the most skilled I-jin henchman," replied Yomiko.

"I'm afraid you won't be around much longer, The Paper," said Genai, "You nor your partners will remain." He shot bolts of electricity into the floor and almost immediately several creatures with sparking electrodes on their heads and shoulders, each with the Blackhearted symbol on their chests.

"The Ijin are part of the Blackhearted!" exclaimed Yomiko.

"These are called Blitzers," explained Genai, "And I believe you can guess what they can do. You are doomed!"

"I wouldn't bet on that," said Ardhamon as his hands flared up with flames.

"No matter what, the light will always shine through," said Daigo. He reached into his uniform and pulled out the Spark Lens. He activated its power and transformed into a human-sized Ultraman Tiga.

"Enough talk. Face me now!" said Genai.

The Blitzers' electrodes began to spark wildly as they charged up. Ardhamon and Ultraman went in quickly in order to try to stop them.

"BRAHMA SUTRA!" shouted Ardhamon.

While Ardhamon blasted away with fireballs, Ultraman was engaging in hand-to-hand combat. The warrior of light grabbed a Blitzer by one of its electrodes and punched it in the chest. The Blackhearted minion suddenly sent several volts of electricity through Ultraman's body, severely shocking him.

Yomiko quickly opened her briefcase and removed several sheets of paper from it. Being sure not to hit Ultraman, she threw a sheet and struck the Blitzer in the chest and destroyed it. Ultraman looked over at her and nodded his thanks before resuming combat.

"Give up. It's hopeless!" Genai cried.

"It's not over yet!" said Ardhamon. He spread his wings and flew upward, over the Blitzers, and towards Genai.

"Fool!" Genai grabbed one of the electrodes on his back and pulled it off his pack, revealing an energy blade made of pure electricity. He swung his weapon at Ardhamon and caught the Hybrid Digimon off guard.

Seeing Ardhamon fall against Genai, Ultraman quickly placed his arms across his chest and thrust them forward, firing a Tiga Slicer at the electric villain. Genai simple swung his weapon and deflected the attack to the side.

"Your companions have failed. Let us see how well _you_ fare, The Paper!" Genai leapt off the platform he had been standing on and landed in front of Yomiko. The agent quickly grabbed a large handful of paper and created a short stick, which she used to block Genai's blade.

"Yomiko!" cried Ardhamon.

Yomiko placed both hands on her "stick" and tried to push Genai back, but the villain simply grinned and pulled off his second electrode, giving him two blades. The Paper quickly withdrew her weapon and tried to gain some distance. Spotting a flight of stairs, she bolted up the steps to the catwalks overhead. She took out a few extra sheets of paper from her pocket and held them in her other hand as she backed away from the stairs, expecting Genai to climb up them. Instead, he took a mighty leap upward and landed on the catwalk right behind Yomiko, startling her.

"So now, The Paper, were you expecting me?" he taunted.

Yomiko quickly drew away from Genai, who continued to slash at her with his blades. It wasn't long before he had backed her against the rail and sent her over. Yomiko, however, quickly converted her paper stick into a paper chain, which she look around a pipe and held on tightly, preventing her from falling.

"You are more resourceful than I expected. But you won't be in that position for much longer," said Genai as he prepared to sever the chain.

Thinking fast, Yomiko took a portion of the chain and converted it into a paper machete, which she used to cut through the catwalk before Genai got the chance to sever her chain.

"What?!" exclaimed the surprised henchman. The catwalk gave way and Genai was sent plummeting to the lower floor. Yomiko slowly pulled herself up and sat down on the ledge, trying to catch her breath.

"Yomiko, are you alright?" The Paper looked in the direction of the voice and saw Ardhamon standing not too far away.

"I'm okay!" she called back.

Genai suddenly jumped back up and landed behind Yomiko, now apparently filled with anger.

"The time for games is over," he said. He raised both blades over his head and prepared to bring them down on the bookworm.

"Yomiko!" shouted Ardhamon.

Seeing Yomiko in danger, Ultraman quickly changed to Speed Mode and took off. However, a loud shot rang out through the base and a bullet struck Genai in the shoulder.

"Nani?!" Genai looked up and saw Miss Deep holding a smoking gun.

"Nancy-san!" exclaimed Yomiko, happy to her old friend once again.

"Be gone with you!" Genai growled. He thrust one of his swords forward and sent bolts of electricity at Miss Deep. The blue-haired agent quickly slipped through the floor and evaded the blast. She re-emerged from the wall and jumped. About midway across, she grabbed a pipe and used it to propel herself the rest of the way. She soon reached the side where Yomiko was with her feet landing on Genai's chest.

"She's good," said Ardhamon. He spread out his wings and flew over to them with Ultraman right behind him.

"Genai Hiraga, you will not harm The Paper," said Miss Deep.

"You can't stop me!" growled the skilled henchman as he rushed towards Miss Deep. He swung his sword at her, but she quickly grabbed a Blitzer in one arm and used it as a shield. The blade cut off one of the minion's electrodes. Immediately after the assault, Miss Deep passed her arm through its chest and fired her gun. Like her, the bullets passed through Genai's body.

"BRAHMA SHIL!" shouted Ardhamon.

Ultraman gathered light energy into his hands and thrust his right hand forward, firing a Ranbalt Light Bullet at Genai. His attack, as well as Ardhamon's, struck the I-jin henchman with such force that he collapsed to the floor.

Yomiko slowly stepped forward. As she did, the Strato Stone began to emit a gentle pink aura. A wind as gentle as the aura slowly blew around The Paper as that aura slowly changed until it became a giant pink butterfly.

"You've killed so many people and hurt many more," she said, "Your skills could have been used for good, but you chose not to."

"Paper…" was all Genai was able to force out.

The Butterfly flapped its wings, stirring up a wind, which caused the paper in Yomiko's briefcase to come flying out towards Genai. As each sheet passed Yomiko, they stiffened and slashed the I-jin henchman. Genai rose to his feet and tried to fight back.

"Yomiko, the pipe!" said Miss Deep, pointing upward.

Taking note of her advice, Yomiko took one small slip of paper and threw it up at the pipe. It struck the side and gallons of liquid nitrogen poured out of the hole and onto Genai Hiraga, freezing him.

"Yomiko, you've defeated Genai Hiraga," said Miss Deep.

Ardhamon walked over to the frozen henchman and gave him a light tap, causing him to fall over.

***

"Looks like Genai Hiraga has failed," said Yami Bakura.

"Not to worry," said Yami Malik, "We shall still be able to defeat the ADI stone holders."

"Hopefully, you're right," muttered Yami Bakura.

"That's why I have something special planned for _you_," said Yami Malik.

***

Shinji, Meta Knight, and Rokusho walked through the deserted streets of Tokyo-3.

"Are you sure you know where you're going?" asked the white Stag Beetle Medabot.

"Well actually, Asuka was the one to drag us to NERV headquarters when the power was out," answered Shinji. He laughed nervously while scratching the back of his head, causing Meta Knight and Rokusho to sigh and sweatdrop.

***

Link finished playing his ocarina and looked around Hyrule Field as he removed the instrument from his mouth.

"Nothing," he said.

"What exactly are you trying to do, anyway?" demanded Kaiba.

"I'm trying to call Epona," replied the Hylian hero.

"Who's Epona?" Ashitaka inquired.

"My horse," answered Link. He placed the ocarina to his lips and played Epona's Song another time.

***

West City was apparently just as empty as Tokyo-3. Li leapt off a pile of rubble and landed next to Trunks.

"So this is all that's left of your home," said the young warlock.

"It is," replied the Z-Fighter, "Come on. We have to get to Capsule Corp."

"I'm not detecting anything out of the ordinary," said Ami as she scanned the area. She put her computer away and followed Trunks and Li through the ruined city.

Not far from the three stone holders, a lone figure with a pair of black locust wings watched.

"Soon Trunks, you, too, will fall, just as your beloved city fell," said Cell.

**__**

TO BE CONTINUED…

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****

NEXT TIME:

Trunks faces his demons in the ruined world of West City. But will he be strong enough to defeat his foe? Meanwhile, Ganondorf has a plot to defeat Link and who knows lies waiting in Tokyo-3?

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Don't forget to review, people.


	7. War in West City

****

Disclaimer: I don't own any if the official anime characters or worlds.

However, I do own the ADI and the Blackhearted.

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****

UNITED WE STAND AS ONE

The War in West City

Li stepped out through the broken door of a nearly-obliterated building and walked towards Ami, who was just coming back from what was once a restaurant.

"Anything?" asked the young warlock.

"Nothing," replied the blue-haired school girl.

Trunks suddenly landed next to the two of them after having patrolled the city by air. Li and Ami looked at him expectantly, but the purple-haired warrior merely closed his eyes and shook his head.

"There isn't a single survivor in this part of the city," said Trunks.

"We've already covered most of the city," said Ami, "There's only one district left."

"Then let's hope we can find someone there," said Trunks, "I'll go on ahead and check it out." And with that, blue flames exploded around Trunks, engulfing his entire body, and he took off, leaving a trail of flames behind him.

"We really need to learn how to fly," said Li as he and Ami ran after the Z-Fighter.

***

Unknown to any of the three stone holders, they were being watched by several insect-like surveillance cameras. A small red light located on their undersides flashed at a steady rate as they transmitted the images to a hidden location in the mountains: Dr. Gero's ruined laboratory.

"Excellent. Those fools are heading straight to Capsule Corp. headquarters," said Cell as he stood in the remains of the great, but misguided, scientist's lab watching the glowing computer monitors. Each monitor was linked to each surveillance bug's hard drive, allowing the green-armored android to watch over the entire town of West City.

"Soon, they'll walk right into my trap," continued Cell, "And once they do, they will be in for a surprise." He turned his gaze over to another monitor, where the dim outline of a lone figure stood, ready to fight.

***

Yami Malik stood behind the dark altar watching the flame in the center of the pentagram engraved into the center. The cauldrons burned brightly as the light from their flames cast the silhouette of Diabolus onto the wall behind the ancient spirit.

"Cell has indeed come up with an ingenious plan. However, he is far too confident," said Yami Malik.

"Cell's own overconfidence shall be his downfall," replied Diabolus, "As long as he continues to believe himself as the most powerful being of his world, he will soon find that there will be others far stronger than him. And that discovery will strengthen the darkness within his heart until he is destroyed by his own hatred."

"What do you suggest, Lord Diabolus?" Yami Malik asked as he clutched the Millennium Rod tighter in his grasp.

"Leave him be," answered the dark lord, "Cell is expendable. If he should live, it will only be a stroke of luck. Wait for the right moment, Malik. Or you shall fall, too."

"Of course, Lord Diabolus," replied the spirit. The cauldron flames returned to their normal state as Diabolus left.

__

He is right, thought Yami Malik, _If I am not careful, I too shall suffer a fate worse than the Shadow Realm. I must be cautious._ He threw his cloak over his shoulder as he turned and left the chapel, returning to the chamber where the others waited.

"Anything?" asked Dr. Meda-Evil.

"Merely a warning to beware of the darkness within our own hearts," answered Yami Malik.

"Hmph! The darkness has no hold over us!" replied Cherubimon, "Rather, we can use it to fortify our forces!"

"Yes, the Blackhearted feed upon the darkness within hearts!" said Yami Bakura, "As long as the darkness is strong, so are they."

__

Don't be so overconfident, boomed Mewtwo's voice.

"Believe it or not, the darkness controls you. Not the other way around," said Riku as he and the holder of the Eye Stone entered the room.

"How does it go with the warrior of chaos?" asked Yami Bakura.

"Same as always," Riku replied casually.

"Anyway, what else have you three done?" asked Dr. Meda-Evil.

"Well, aside from getting _him_ to do anything, not a whole lot out of the ordinary," answered the bearer of the Dark Keyblade, "other than the fact that we had a small problem during a jump to another world. Apparently, someone followed us. We had to drop him off at a random world on our way back. Ignoring that, you could say nothing else."

"Then we'll call you when you're needed again," said Yami Malik.

***

Zechs sat at a table reading. Taking a quick glance to the side, he could see that the figure on the balcony hadn't moved from his spot. In fact, he had been standing in that exact same location since the first day he had arrived. Zechs returned his attention to his book and looked up only once more when Riku and Mewtwo returned.

"Well?" asked the pilot.

__

We've been placed on standby, answered Mewtwo.

"So now all we do is wait until they want us to do something again," said Riku as he sat down. He grabbed a fruit from the bowl sitting in the center of the table and tossed it in his hand a bit.

"Standby is one of the many things to happen to an individual during times of great conflict." Everyone turned and looked towards the figure on the balcony.

"Hmph. A lot you know about fighting. You've never even set foot onto the battlefield," said Riku. He tossed the fruit into the air once again. A sharp sound rang out and a flash of silver moved through the air and Riku's fruit fell onto the table in bite-sized pieces.

A loud screech suddenly pierced through the air. Everyone looked outside and noticed a large flock of demonic birds approaching them. Apparently, the small bird that had been killed earlier was a baby and now the rest of the family came to avenge it.

The lone figure simply stood in his place. A green aura surrounded his body as he held out his hand. After silently muttering a few words, several bolts of lightning rained down on the flock and completely destroyed them.

"I take that back," said Riku.

Mewtwo and Zechs merely stood by and watched. It was rather surprising to them that one capable of such power would prefer to stay behind rather than engage onto the battlefield. Mewtwo assumed he was only conserving his energy.

"Don't underestimate the power of any being," said the figure.

__

Incredible. His power must be overwhelming of he could destroy that entire flock. And those creatures aren't easy to kill, thought Zechs.

***

Trunks, Li, and Ami soon reached Capsule Corp. headquarters. The area had been demolished and the building was in shambles. But for some reason, the domed structure still stood.

"Be on your guard," said Trunks as he drew his sword. Li followed suit and Ami followed them with her visor over her eyes and her computer in her hand. Together, three stone holders entered the Capsule Corp. building. The inside was clearly more than what the outside showed. Giant piles of rubble littered the floors. Furniture and appliances had been completely destroyed. Holes and hanging wires covered the ceiling. Near one corner, water was gushing out of a broken pipe.

"Looks pretty bad," Li commented as he looked around while keeping his sword ready.

"I'm not picking up any readings," said Ami. She tapped the keys on her computer for a bit.

"And I'm not sensing any energy levels, either," added Trunks.

"Is that good or bad?" asked Li.

"Depends. Knowing we're in my world and considering the last opponent we had to face, we can assume it's a bad thing," answered the purple-haired warrior.

"Dare I ask who the last opponent was?" asked Ami.

"His name is Cell, an android created by Dr. Gero," answered Trunks, "Dr. Gero wanted to create the ultimate fighting machine. So, he created a device that would gather cells from the strongest fighters, which would be used to create Cell. The cells that were gathered included those of Goku, Gohan, Tien, Piccolo, my father, and even Frieza."

"Seeing as I don't know who any of those guys are, I can't say anything," said Li.

Ami was about to say something, but she was cut off by the sudden appearance of a black-faced creature wearing Saiyan armor dropped down from the sky. Several more appeared on the buildings and jumped down, landing on either side of their comrade.

"Blackhearted!" Trunks grasped the hilt of his sword tightly as Li held an incantation between his right middle and index fingers while Ami positioned herself to launch a Mercury Aqua Rhapsody.

"What are these ones called?" asked Li.

"They're wearing armor similar to what my father wears," said Trunks, "But we'll figure it out later!" And with that, he dashed towards the Blackhearted and slashed at them wildly with his sword.

"ELEMENT FIRE! COME TO MY AID!" Li pressed the hilt of his sword against the incantation and a stream of flames burst from the magical parchment, burning several Blackhearted.

The remaining Blackhearted watched their fallen brethren die. They looked up at their opponents before launching themselves at them. Trunks quickly re-sheathed his sword and started blocking the punches being dealt by three of the deadly creatures. Li was dealing with two more while a whole bunch surrounded Ami.

"MERCURY AQUA RHAPSODY!" The attack struck all the Blackhearted surrounding the Sailor Scout and destroyed them.

"There's not enough room to fight in here!" said Trunks as he punched a Blackhearted in the face, "We need to get outside!" And with those words said, he kicked the last Blackhearted away before retreating outside. Li and Ami followed with the world-destroying creatures behind them. But the Blackhearted were soon drawn out into the open where the fighting continued. Five of the minions surrounded Trunks and attacked him at once. On the ground, Li and Ami were faced with several of the new creatures plus a fairly large number of Soldiers.

"This is not good," muttered Li as he stabbed another Soldier in the insignia.

"There are too many!" exclaimed Ami.

"Isn't there something we can do to help us?" asked Li.

"Wait, there is!" replied Sailor Mercury, "MERCURY BUBBLE BLAST!" She dispersed her bubbles all over the area, covering it in a thick fog.

"Good call!" Li yelled. The young warlock took out a lightning incantation and shot several bolts into the fog.

Meanwhile, Trunks was still battling the five Blackhearted in the air. Frustrated, the teenaged Saiyan flew away from the wretched creatures to gain some distance.

"That does it." He held his hands out in front of his body and aimed at the oncoming minions. The Z-Fighter suddenly began to move his arms around in front of him rapidly, creating only a blur of motion. He stopped and double-checked to see if his attack would be aimed perfectly.

"BURNING ATTACK!" A ball of energy quickly built up in his hand and he fired a bright yellow beam at the Blackhearted, destroying them and causing everyone on the ground, including the Blackhearted down there, to look up.

"What was that?" asked Ami.

"Some sort of magic?" Li guess. He had absolutely no idea.

Golden flames suddenly surrounded Trunks' body as his eyes changed from cobalt blue to emerald green and his hair stood up on end and turned to a bright gold.

"Get out of the way!" shouted Super Saiyan Trunks as he aimed both hands downward.

"Don't need to tell us twice!" said Li as he and Ami ran. The Blackhearted tried to chase them down, but they didn't get far as SS Trunks released a barrage of ki blasts and destroyed them. When the smoke cleared, nothing remained of the dark creatures other than a scorched crater. Trunks landed in front of his partners and powered down, returning his eyes and hair to normal.

"What did you just do?" asked Ami.

"I transformed," replied Trunks, "I transformed into a Super Saiyan. I told you about my heritage before."

"I remember," said Li, "but you never mentioned the Super Saiyan bit."

"Well, we hadn't gotten that far yet," said Trunks, "A any rate, let's head back to Capsule Corp. There has to be reason that the Blackhearted attacked us while we were there. It's obvious that they're hiding or protecting something.

"Agreed," said Ami.

"You know what my answer is," said Li.

The three of them looked at each other and nodded. Together, they headed back to Capsule Corp. Upon their arrival, they decided to go around the building first before heading inside. Should they encounter more Blackhearted, they would be able to fight them easily, since they were already outside.

"The outside looks pretty clear," said Trunks.

An explosion suddenly erupted from inside the Capsule Corp. building. A lone figure shot out from the roof and flew high into the air. It hovered in the air for a while before making a dive towards the ground, streaking through the sky like a meteor. It made a few flips before landing on the ground. The sight of the figure made everyone's blood go cold.

"Frieza?" asked Trunks. The figure looked a bit like Frieza, but much more menacing and more male in appearance.

"I am not Frieza," said the figure, "I am his brother, Koola!" Koola stood up and exposed his true appearance. He was in his final form, which made him all the more menacing.

"This doesn't look good," said Li. Suddenly, several more Blackhearted appeared in the area. This time, however, they looked like black Cell Juniors with pitch-black faces. A few of the Saiyan armor-wearing Blackhearted also appeared, which Trunks had now come to mentally calling them Z-Destroyers.

"Definitely not good," added Trunks. He clenched his fists and quickly transformed before he, Li, and Ami faced Koola and the Black Cells and the Z-Destroyers.

Koola and his accompanying Blackhearted minion lifted off the ground and flew towards the stone holders. The older brother of Frieza thrust out his fist and caught Trunks in the chest.

"ELEMENT WIND!" shouted Li. Powerful winds blew from the incantation and surrounded the Black Cells, lifting them into the air. However, they stayed up there once the wind died down. Li just sweatdropped.

"I forgot that they could fly," he muttered.

"MERCURY AQUA RHAPSODY!" Ami's attack hit several Z-Destroyers and obliterated them, only to have them replaced by more Z-Destroyers.

"This is going to be harder than we thought," said Li.

Meanwhile, Trunks was flying backwards trying to get away from Koola's viscous onslaught.

"Fight me, boy!" taunted the evil extraterrestrial.

Trunks tried to fight back, but Koola was much too fast and too powerful. The alien slowly began to put more force into his offensive assault.

"You're no match for me!" he said. Drawing back, he shot out his leg and kicked Trunks back. The young Saiyan flew back and crashed into a tower. Koola chuckled a bit before flying in to deal more damage. A fist suddenly connected with the right side of his face as Trunks burst from the rubble.

"You may be stronger than your brother, but you're still just about as overconfident as he was," said the Z-Fighter.

Koola, caught by surprise, staggered back for a bit. He was a little shocked, but that shock turned into rage as he glared up at Trunks.

"You will pay for that," he muttered. And with that, he fired a barrage of ki blasts from his hands. Trunks flew back and forth trying to evade each and every shot. His movements were so quick that he was in one place one moment and in another about a second later as though he were using teleportation.

"Stop running, you pathetic Saiyan!" growled Koola. Trunks suddenly appeared right in front of him with his hand outstretched. The evil alien had no time to react as Trunks immediately fired a powerful ki from his hand at point-blank range. The resulting explosion caused everyone to look up.

"That was Trunks, right?" asked Li.

"I think it was," said Ami.

The smoke cleared and Koola floated in the air battered and blackened. Trunks simply hovered a few feet in front of him. Not wanting to give his opponent a chance to move, he quickly powered up and prepared to fire another attack.

"EXTERMINATE DISCHARGE!" He launched the massive ki at Koola and it struck him with full force.

"Is it done?" asked Li.

"I'm not picking up anything," replied Ami as she scanned for anything with her computer. As the smoke cleared, the two of them could see Trunks still glowing with bright golden flames.

"He's okay!" exclaimed the magician. However, his facial expression changed when he looked through the other smoke cloud. Koola was still afloat. He was severely injured, but still alive and plenty capable of destruction.

"This ends now!" said Koola. He flew higher into the air and held his hand over his head and began to build a dark ball of energy.

"This isn't good," said Ami, "That ball has enough energy to destroy this world!"

"No way!" screamed Li.

"It's possible," said Trunks.

"Farewell!" said Koola as soon as the ball had gained enough energy, "DEATH BALL!" He prepared to throw the ball down, but something suddenly grabbed his arms. Turning, Koola could see two Z-Destroyers latched onto him.

"What are you doing? Attack _them_, not me!" ordered the evil alien as three Black Cells grabbed onto him, "Release me!"

"What's going on?" asked Li.

"It must be his heart," said Trunks, "Koola became so enraged that the darkness in his heart grew and now the Blackhearted are trying to claim it as their own."

Koola continued to try to fight off the Blackhearted, but the creatures were so large in numbers that it wasn't easy. The Death Ball dissipated as the evil being continued to fight them off. One of the Black Cells who was grabbing his torso held up a hand, which was glowing dark purple. In one sudden motion, it plunged it deep into Koola's chest. The diabolical alien grasped briefly in surprise and looked down in horror as he continued to fight off the Blackhearted. But his struggle was useless. A purple light burst from Koola's chest as the Black Cell pulled out its hand back out. In its palm, held in place by its fingers, was a glowing light. The light brightened and in a flash, it transformed into a heart – Koola's heart. The Blackhearted quickly leapt off their target onto the ground and looked at their prize. The Black Cell that had grabbed the heart tightened its grasp and extracted the darkness within it until nothing was left. The dark minions then nodded to each other and disappeared.

"This doesn't look good," said Trunks as he backed away from the now-heartless Koola. A black light slowly began to radiate from his body as he began to shrink. His body changed to pitch black, his horns and tail receded, and his limbs shortened. A short while later, Koola had finished his transformation. In his place was a Shadow, which fell straight towards the ground since Shadows were completely incapable of flight.

"That takes care of him," said Trunks as he landed and powered down, "But I still doubt that Koola was our enemy."

"We better contact ADI headquarters and see if they can give us anything," suggested Ami, "If you're right, then whoever his is must be stronger."

***

The ADI staff was busy doing inventory when the PHS rang.

"Someone get that!" called Otaku.

Richie was the closest. He slid down the ladder he was on, walked over to the PHS, and answered it.

"Anime Defense Initiative. Richie Williams speaking," he said into the receiver.

"Richie, it's Li," replied the young warlock, "We need something to help us on our mission. We think we might be fighting someone ultra-powerful, so we need help."

"I'll see what we can send over," said Richie before pressing the PHS against his body to muffle the sound, "Hey guys! What can we send to Li, Ami, and Trunks in West City?"

"Send them a summon gem!" said Otaku.

"I'm on it!" said Sora. He reached out with his hand and grabbed a passing rack, which he rode until he reached his destination. Releasing his grip, he landed and walked over to a vault. After unlocking three padlocks, putting in five combinations, and slashing his ID card through the reader, he pulled open the door and walked over to the second vault door. Removing his glove, he pressed his right hand against the sensor pad, opening the door to reveal a third one. He stepped over to the mic and spoke his name. The computer verified his voice and the door opened, revealing an energy shield. Just to the right of the shield was a lens. Sora looked into the lens as the computer scanned his retina. A green light lit up and the shield dropped. They Keyblade master entered the heavily secured room and removed a box from the wall. He unlocked it and opened the lid, revealing the ADI's three summon gems. He grabbed Saint Dragon, God of Osiris and placed the box back into its place before leaving the vault, remembering to close and lock everything on his way out.

"Saint Dragon of Osiris!" Sora called out. He placed it on a nearby item transporter and keyed in Li's ID number. He slapped his hand down on the red button and the summon gem was gone.

***

A flash of light appeared in Li's hand and upon inspection saw the bright red summon gem in his palm.

"They sent us a summon gem," said Li.

"Let's hope we can put it to good use," said Trunks, "But we won't use it yet."

Li put the summon gem away and the three stone holders continued their mission.

"You there!" a voice rang out. Trunks looked around but couldn't see anything. He looked again and he soon saw figure underneath a pile of rubble. He quickly ran over with Li and Ami not far behind. The soon reached the trapped figure, who turned out to be just a little boy.

"Hey, you're not one of them!" said the boy.

"Who are you?" asked Li.

"I'm…" the boy started, but he couldn't finish. The stone holders guessed that he was still at a very early age. The boy started crying and Ami tried to comfort him.

"What's wrong?" asked Li.

"It's…it's…Cell," the boy managed to force out, "He took both my parents and ate them!"

"I knew it," said Trunks, "Cell, you will pay for your crimes!"

***

Cell flew towards West City straight from Dr. Gero's lab. Since Koola had been destroyed, he knew that it as time to take matters into his own hands.

"I'll be ready for you, Trunks," said the evil android as he burst forward with an extra boost of energy.

***

"I see. So that's what happened," said Ami after she, Li, and Trunks finished hearing the boy's story.

"That's terrible," said Li as he leaned his back against what was once a wall. Apparently, hearing about how Cell used to absorb people via his tail struck a bit of fear in the young warlock.

"Look guys, it's obvious that we have to stop Cell. But now it's not just to save this world and end his reign of terror, but also to avenge all those who were killed by him. Including this kid's parents," said Trunks.

"But where are we going to find him?" asked Li, "We don't know what he looks like, so we don't even know where to start."

"Don't worry about finding him," said Trunks as he got up, "He'll find us."

Sure enough, the green black-spotted android arrived within a couple of hours. The young boy was so terrified by the presence of such a powerful weapon of destruction that he wet his pants. Li and Ami stood ready. Both of them were clearly amazed by their opponent. Cell stood almost at least two meters tall and his wings almost touched the ground.

"Cell," Trunks muttered.

"Good to see you again, Trunks," said Cell.

"Enough, Cell. You know why I'm here," said the teenaged Saiyan.

"You intend to destroy me. I'm afraid that won't be as easy as you think it will be," said the mighty android.

"We'll see in just a bit," Trunks shot back as he transformed. He took up his battle stance as Cell took up his own. The air seemed to thicken as the two combatants stood off against each other, staring into each other's eyes waiting for the other to make a move.

In a sudden flash, Trunks and Cell flew straight at each other and their fists collided with one another midway. Both fighters pushed each other away and flew back. Cell quickly crouched down and ground his hands and feet into the concrete street, slowing himself down. Trunks, on the other hand, stopped himself in mid air. He whipped out his sword and made another dash at Cell, who had just gotten up. The diabolical machine raised his arm and blocked Trunks' blow. Trunks swung again and Cell blocked a second time. The exchange of blows continued as the two of them slowly rose into the air.

Meanwhile, Li and Ami found themselves surrounded by Black Cells. Li stood ready with his sword in hand while Ami had her hand up in a guard position.

"ELEMENT FIRE!" shouted Li.

"MERCURY AQUA RHAPSODY!" shouted Ami.

Together, the two attacks took out a good number of Blackhearted, but several more replaced them, mostly Shadows.

"Protect the kid!" Trunks called out to his allies. Li and Ami looked at each other and nodded. The Sailor Scout quickly ran over to where the young boy sat huddling in fear while Li tried to fend of the creatures of darkness.

"Is that boy really that important to you?" asked Cell. He quickly flew backwards to gain some distance and stood across from Trunks. The young Saiyan sensed that the evil android would try something, so he immediately sheathed his sword and stood ready.

And to Trunks' guess, he did. But to his surprise, it was a move that the Z-Fighter never expected the evil android to use so soon. Cell placed his hands in front of them and slowly drew them back.

"Kaaaaaa…"

Trunks' expression was now one filled with horror.

"Meeeeee…"

"Trunks, what's going on?" called Li.

"Get away from here!" shouted Trunks.

"Haaaaaa…"

"I'm picking up rapidly-increases power signatures!" said Ami as she typed on her computer. Looking up, she could see a ball of energy forming in Cell's hands.

"Meeeeee…"

"GET OUT OF HERE NOW!" Trunks yelled.

"Let's go!" said Li. He grabbed the boy and hoisted him onto his back before taking off with Ami not far behind him.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

Cell thrust his arms forward and fired a powerful energy beam towards Trunks. The young Saiyan knew that he was faced with a dilemma. If he dodged the beam, it would destroy the world. If he tried to block it, there was a high chance that it would kill him. He decided that he'd rather risk his life than watch his world be destroyed. Gold flames surrounded his body as he powered up.

"Not this time, Cell!" he said, "EXTERMINATE DISCHARGE!" Launching the attack, his beam met with Cell's partway. The young warrior strained under the sheer power of Cell's beam as he tried to hold it back with his own.

"Don't bother," said Cell, "You can't win." And with that, he added more power to his beam, causing it to pull back Trunks'.

"I don't care if I die or not as long as you're stopped!" said Trunks as he tried to hold his own. He added some extra power to his attack and was able to push it forward some, but Cell simply increased the power of his own beam, causing it to push Trunks' back towards him.

"We need to do something," said Li, who had taken shelter in a seemingly intact building with Ami and the boy.

"But what can we do?" asked the boy, "We can't beat Cell!"

"Li, what about that summon gem?" suggested Ami.

"Of course!" the young magician suddenly realized. Reaching into his robes, he pulled out the red crystalline sphere and held it in both hand in front of his body. A light aura surrounded it as he slowly moved his hands from under it. The gem floated in the air as Li drew his sword and held it over his head with the blade pointed downward.

"Force, know my plight! Release the light! I summon SAINT DRAGON, THE GOD OF OSIRIS!" Li touched the tip of his sword to the summon gem and a bright red light shone out from the crystal.

Black clouds suddenly covered the sky despite the fact that the day so far had been completely cloudless. Thunder roared and lighting flashed as the clouds seemed to twist and turn.

"What's going on here?" asked Cell as he and Trunks continued to try to push back the other's beam.

A low growl could be heard coming from above. Slowly, a massive red dragon descended down from the clouds. Its body was long and winding like a snake's and a large pair of wings seemed to spread out from its back. A pair of arms seemed to break the snake illusion, each armed with sharp claws. The creature's head finally emerged. Covered with several horns with a blue gem set into the center of its head, the massive monster looked down at Cell with its piercing yellow eyes. Opening its lower mouth, it let out a mighty roar, revealing the countless number of teeth lining its jaws.

__

Li must have used the summon gem! Trunks realized. Even though his back was turned towards it, he knew that the mighty Egyptian god was right behind him and staring right at Cell.

"This better work," muttered Li, "Saint Dragon of Osiris, attack now!"

Osiris complied and opened it lower mouth. A bright ball of energy formed at the back of its throat and the massive red dragon unleashed its destructive Thunder Force. The beam smashed into Cell's and, along with Trunks' Exterminate Discharge, pushed it back into the diabolical android. Cell was clearly taken by surprise, not expecting such power, as he was engulfed in a bright light followed by an explosion.

"Looks like that takes care of Cell," said Li. Meanwhile, the boy slowly walked forward and stopped just beside him. He looked up and his eyes started to fill.

"Is he gone?" asked the boy. He looked around, but saw no sign of the evil artificial life form. A big smile formed onto his face and he started jumping up and down in happiness.

"I guess that's it," said Trunks.

Suddenly, a blur of green burst from the smoke cloud and a fist connected with Trunks' right cheek. Glancing over, he saw Cell floating just a short distance away with an angry look in his face.

"AHH! He's back!" screamed the boy, causing him to wet his pants a second time.

"You think you can defeat me?! I have been infused with the powers of the Blackhearted! I can't be defeated so easily!" boasted Cell.

"After that attack, he's still alive?!" gasped Li.

"How are we ever going to be able to defeat him?" asked Ami.

Li gritted his teeth as he clenched his fist.

"Bear spirit, come to my aid!" shouted the young magician. The Arbor Stone glowed brightly and the spirit of the green crystal emerged and roared almost immediately, it flew up towards Cell and slammed into him.

"AGH! The power of the Arbor Stone! I must destroy it!" said the evil android.

"I don't think so!" said Trunks. The Lunar Stone suddenly began to glow from around his neck, causing Cell to look towards him.

"No. Not you, too!" said the evil being. He backed away as the spirit of the Lunar Stone emerged. A seemingly white horse with a silver horn slowly stepped out and neighed. A small shower of feather flew out as it spread its magnificent white angel wings.

"What is that?" asked the boy.

"It looks like…Pegasus," said Ami, remembering back when she and the other Sailor Scouts fought Zirconia and Queen Nehelenia.

__

It's the spirit of the Lunar Stone, Pegasus, Trunks thought to himself.

Cell backed away as he looked around. Down below was Li with the Bear spirit of the Arbor Stone. In front of him was Trunks now with the Pegasus Spirit of the Lunar Stone. Looming over him was Saint Dragon, God of Osiris, who looked ready and just waiting to strike.

"It's over, Cell!" said Trunks, "ATTACK!"

"Bear!" The Bear spirit acknowledged Li's commanded and struck Cell with full force.

Saint Dragon, God of Osiris closed its lower jaws and opened his upper set. It fired a purple ball of fire at Cell and struck him with full force, severely weakening him. It then closed its mouth and reopened its lower one before unleashing another Thunder Force. The damage Cell was taking was incredible.

"I can't lose!" growled the android.

"Too late for that. You already have," said Trunks, "Pegasus, attack now!" The winged horse spirit spread out its wings and flew towards Cell. As it drew closer, a black ball of energy formed on the tip of its horn until it was about twenty times the size of a beach ball.

"GO FOR IT!" cheered the boy.

Pegasus reared back its head and neighed before launching the ball at Cell. The attack met its target and completely engulfed him.

"ARGH! Gravity…too…much! Can't take strain!" Cell's body began to buckle from the force of the black sphere that surrounded him. He floated to the ground, where the sphere continued to pull down on him with its powerful force of gravity.

"He can't take the strain for much longer," said Ami.

Slowly, but surely, Cell's body was slowly crushed by the gravitational force of the attack. Eventually, the gravity became so great that the sphere closed in on itself, creating a black hole, which swallowed Cell's remains, completing the diabolical android's destruction. Pegasus reared up on its hind legs and neighed. Its horn shone in the light and the black hole was sealed.

"Now that's an attack," Li said as he looked at the spot where Cell once was.

Trunks flew back down to the ground and landed. Closing his eyes, his hair changed back to purple and he reopened them, revealing his eyes to be blue once again.

"We've saved my world," said the young Saiyan, "Now we just have to find the key."

"You mean this?" The little boy lifted his shirt up a bit and pulled out a key, which he had wedged into the waistband of his pants. The key was shaped like a Z colored half-red, half-yellow.

"I found it when it somehow dropped from the sky," the boy continued.

"It must've come from Dende's lookout," Trunks guessed as he took the key. He pocketed the mystical object and turned to his allies. "Let's go."

"Thanks for helping us!" called out the boy as Trunks, Li, and Ami left. Trunks could only smile as they left the boy, and West City behind.

**__**

TO BE CONTINUED…

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****

NEXT TIME:

There's trouble on Tokyo-3. Just when things couldn't get any worse. Now Shinji must face his fears and overcome his cowardice in order to defeat this enemy. But will he and EVA-01 be able to defeat an **_Angel_** created by the Blackhearted?

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Please read & review, folks!


	8. Terror in Tokyo3

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the official anime material in this fanfic.

However, I do own the Blackhearted, the ADI, and Otaku.

Regarding Sonic the Hedgehog, I plan to have his world in this fanfic, too. Just not right away. He WILL appear eventually, though.

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****

UNITED WE STAND AS ONE

Terror in Tokyo-3

Jim was on his back in the ADI headquarters' hangar bay, wrench in hand. He was currently lying on two skateboards that he had somehow managed to attach together due to the ADI's low budget. His pocket computer sat on a table to the side along with jacket, which was draped over a chair. The eleven-year-old mechanic brushed a strand of his dirty blond hair out of the way as he pulls his work goggles over his eyes.

"How's it coming?" asked Sora as he walked in.

"To be honest, this is a lot better than working on tractors," replied Jim.

"You do realize that we might not even need these things after all," said Sora as he watched sparks begin to flash from the underside of the large device Jim was working on. Just then, the view screen on the wall lit up, revealing Kai's face.

"Jim, where are you?" asked the Blade Breaker.

"Right here," said Jim as he put down his tools and rolled out from under the machine.

"You're needed in the transporter room," said Kai, "Two groups have just finished their jobs."

"I'm on it." Jim removed his work goggles, wiped his hands on a rag, and grabbed his jacket and computer before heading to the transporter room. Upon his arrival, he could see the blue light flashing on the console.

"Alright, I'm coming," said the young mechanic. He sat down on his chair, which lifted him up to the main control console. He began typing in a few commands and watched the screens. Within a few moments, he was able to pinpoint the locations of the two signals he had received.

__

West City and the unknown area, he though. Smirking, he quickly opened a portal to both locations. The first to step through were Trunks, Ami, and Li.

"Looks like you made it through, okay," said Jim.

"Well, we finished out job," said Trunks.

A short while later, Yomiko, Takuya, and Daigo stepped through the portal. The sound of boots, women's shoes, and sneakers against metal announced their entrance.

"Well, that was interesting," said Takuya.

"How did you guys do?" asked Li.

"Well, apparently the place we went to was, what Yomiko told us, the I-jin base," answered Daigo.

"Well, at least you guys are back. We're still waiting for the teams in Hyrule and Tokyo-3 to come back," said Jim. Grabbing hold of the control stick on his right armrest, he moved his chair away from the console over to another one. After making a check on that one, he brought himself down and stood up.

"Anyway, I'm going to wash up," said Takuya, "After dealing with an electrified clone of a 200-year-old samurai, I need some relax time." He walked out of the room and headed off towards his own.

"So, anything else?" asked Jim.

"Well, we did get this," said Trunks. He reached into his pocket and pulled out what appeared to be a Dragon Ball. Inside was the image of a long green snake-like dragon.

"It's a summon gem," said Jim, "We're going to need Sora again."

As if on cue, the Keyblade Master entered.

"Someone mention my name?" he asked.

"Yeah, we need you for this," said Jim as he held up the gem brought back by Trunks.

"Yeah, I got it," said Sora. He took out his Keyblade and aimed it at the gem. A thin beam of light shot out from the mystical weapon and hit the jewel, unlocking the spirit within.

"Shenron has been awakened," said Trunks, "The Blackhearted must have suppressed his power to prevent him from destroying them."

* * *

Riku, Mewtwo, and Zechs knelt before the altar as the flames enlarged and the silhouette of Diabolus appeared in the deathly inferno.

"You called for us?" asked Riku.

"Yes," replied Diabolus, "I see that all of you have come, my loyal stone holders. But alas, where is the warrior of chaos?"

__

He is still as he has been. He refuses to leave his place, answered Mewtwo.

"At any rate, why have you called us?" asked Zechs.

"I'm sure you've noticed the growing powers of the stones held by those ADI fools," said Diabolus. A flame appeared in front of the three stone holders and began to project images of the ADI's most recent victories.

"With each battle, the ADI stone holders awaken another spirit," continued the monstrous demon, "First Thunder. Then Wood. Light. Water. Wind. Moon. The spirits residing within their stone are awakening, one by one. Once all of their spirits awaken, they will be a threat to my power!"

"Don't worry, Big D. We have our own stone spirits," said Riku as he took the Shadow Stone into his hand, "Sphinx."

__

Chimera, said Mewtwo as he held the Eye Stone in his right hand.

"Minotaur," said Zechs.

"And there is the spirit of chaos," finished Diabolus.

"But we don't even know its power," said Riku.

"_I_ know its power," the demon overlord bellowed, "All that matters now is defeat the ADI and collecting their stones. Once that is accomplished, I will be freed from my prison." Diabolus looked up from the three warriors kneeling before him and noticed someone in the doorway. Not surprisingly, Riku glanced over his shoulder to see.

"I'm surprised you're even here," said the silver-haired youth.

"I'm here and that's all that matters," said the lone figure.

"If you're so powerful, then why don't you go out to fight?" asked Riku.

"Enough," bellowed Diabolus, "I have something else prepared for you, warrior of chaos."

The warrior of chaos just stood listening before he turned around and walked away.

__

He is one of great mystery, said Mewtwo, _Not even I can tell what thoughts reside within his mind_.

"You may now go resume your training," said Diabolus right before he disappeared and the flames returned to normal.

"Well, that's that," said Riku as he stood up.

"I'll go see if Epyon is ready yet," said Zechs before he left.

"How can he possibly put so much trust into someone who hasn't fought yet?" asked Riku as he walked out of the chapel with Mewtwo behind him.

__

You may possess the powers of Darkness, Riku, but don't let it cloud your mind, said the psychic Pokémon.

As they walked through the hallways, they noticed the lone warrior standing outside. His back was turned towards them, but he was facing a massive creature covered with rotting flesh.

"That's an Undead Dragon," exclaimed Riku, "one of the most powerful monsters in this world." He watched as the warrior of chaos reached for something at his side. In one swift motion, the dragon body was dismembered limb from limb. A severed hand landed near Riku's feet. The warrior of Darkness simply shrugged and kicked it away.

* * *

"Looks like this way is blocked, too," said Shinji.

"Not for long," said Rokusho, "CHANBARA SWORD!" One swift swing of his sword and Rokusho cut down the jammed door that barred their path.

"It is almost as if the city's power was cut," said Meta Knight.

"That happened once," said Shinji as he recalled the time Matariel attacked. The whole city of Tokyo-3 had been plunged into darkness and he, Asuka, and Rei, literally had to crawl through a mile of mud to get to NERV headquarters.

"So what do we do now?" inquired Rokusho.

"We should probably head to NERV headquarters," said Shinji, "We may need something there."

"So how do we get there?" asked the white Medabot. This immediately threw Shinji off. Even though he and the other Eva pilots had made it to their destination, it was Asuka who "led" the way the whole time. The Third Child just sighed.

"Then we will just have to find a way," said Meta Knight.

Just then, several aircrafts flew by overhead. The three stone holders looked up to see them pass and wondered where and why they were heading off.

"Attention, everyone! Please evacuate the area immediately!" a voice rang out on a speaker, "I repeat, evacuate the area immediately! An Angel is approaching! I repeat, an Angel is approaching!"

"An Angel?!" Shinji practically screamed.

"Somehow, I get the feeling this 'Angel' you're talking about is nothing like I imagine it," said Rokusho.

* * *

"The Angel is approaching quickly," said Makoto Hyuga.

"It's already passed our innermost defenses," said Shigeru Aoba.

"Commander, what should we do?" asked Maya Ibuki.

NERV commander Kouzou Fuyutsuki looked over at the organization's head commander, Gendo Ikari. The dark-haired man sat at his station as calm as ever watching everything.

"Dispatch the Evas immediately," he ordered.

"But the pilot of Unit-01 hasn't arrived, yet," said Shigeru.

"Dispatch whatever we have now," said Gendo.

"Roger!" said Makoto.

Down below, the Evangelions were being prepared for launched. Asuka and Rei were already in their plug suits and sitting inside their Entry Plugs.

"Now inserting the Entry Plugs," said Ritsuko. She watched as the two cylindrical capsules were inserted into the ports on the backs of Evas 00' and 02.

"The Evas are now ready," the blonde said.

"Commence launch!" Gendo ordered. Immediately, the restraints were removed from both synthetic life forms and the two of them were taken to the launch pads.

"Launch shafts are all clear," said Maya.

"Launch!" ordered Misato.

The launch pads were released and the two Evas shot up through their respective shafts and emerged out into the surface. The final restraints were immediately released and both behemoths stood waiting.

* * *

Shinji's thoughts were interrupted by loud warning sirens. Looking towards the skyline, he saw Eva-02 suddenly rise up above the buildings.

"What is that?" asked Rokusho.

"It's one of the Evas!" exclaimed Shinji. He turned around and Eva-00' emerged on the opposite side of the street. Both Evas looked ready for combat.

"We had best get out of the way," said Meta Knight.

"We have to get to NERV headquarters now," said Shinji. He, Rokusho, and Meta Knight immediately broke off into a run. However, as they ran, they failed to notice the shadows that were making their way down the Eva launch shafts.

* * *

"I don't see anything!" said Asuka.

"Keep a close eye out for it," said Rei, calmly.

The two pilots sat in their Entry Plugs, waiting. Minutes passed and there was still no sign of the Angel. Asuka was beginning to get bored while Rei's face remained a mask free of emotion. Asuka was about to make another complaint when something appeared on the horizon.

"It's here," said Rei.

"About time!" said Asuka, who was clearly eager to engage combat.

The Angel approached Tokyo-3 at a steady pace. Its body was completely black. A skull-like face was set into its body at shoulder height. Its red spherical core could be seen on its abdomen within a mark that looked like a black heart. Its shoulders seemed to resemble those of an Eva. Other than that, it looked fairly simple.

"That's it?" asked Asuka. She was hoping for something more elaborate. "Well, I guess it's better than nothing. CHARGE!" Eva-02 immediately leap into action and ran straight towards the Angel.

"Something is very wrong," said Misato who was watching the fight from NERV HQ. Her guess couldn't have been more correct. A flash of purple suddenly flashed and knocked Eva-02 back.

"What the hell was that?!" shouted Asuka. Looking back at the Angel, she saw a set of spinning laser tentacles surrounding it.

"Those weren't there before," said Misato.

The Angel stopped spinning its tentacles and absorbed them back into its body. It then held out its right arm. Its thumb and two other fingers grew as the rest of the fingers shrunk into the hand. The forearm thinned out until it was almost anorexic. A red circle appeared in the center of its palm as a spike shot out of its elbow.

"No way!" exclaimed Misato. She recognized the arm as belonging to Sachiel, the third Angel. She watched as the black behemoth took aim and shot an energy spear from its hand at Eva-02, just as Sachiel had done before.

"Damnit!" screamed Asuka.

* * *

Shinji and Rokusho were crawling through an air duct while Meta Knight, being the height that he was, just walked.

"This is a lot harder than I remember," mumbled the fourteen-year-old.

* * *

Yami Malik watched as the fight between the two Evas and the Angel intensified. He let out a small smirk as the scales seemed to tip in favor of evil.

"Azrael is proving to be quite a worthy creation," said the ancient spirit.

"Indeed, it is," said Yami Bakura.

"Are you ready for _your_ mission?" asked Yami Malik.

The tomb robber's soul encased in the white-haired boy's body smirked as he replied, "I've been ready for a long time, now."

"Then stay that way," said Yami Malik, "Is the warrior of Earth ready?"

"He is and he's waiting," replied Yami Bakura.

"Dispatch him to Tokyo-3, immediately," ordered Yami Malik, "We have a key to snatch. And make sure the warrior of Darkness is on standby."

* * *

Zechs stood in the hangar while the final checks were being made on Epyon. The red and black Gundam was designed solely for close combat, which meant it was built for speed.

"That's enough now," said the white-haired commander. The Blackhearted that were working on the Mobile Suit backed away and disappeared back into darkness.

"So, you're going out?" asked Riku as he entered. He was clad in his armor and he held his Keyblade in his hand.

"Yes, and you're supposed to be my backup," said Zechs.

"Just because I'm the only one who has a viable substitute for every world's key," said Riku, "That's the only reason you're keeping me here, right?"

"I don't know," said Zechs as he boarded a platform which took him up to Epyon's cockpit.

* * *

The Angel, whom we now know as Azrael, tossed Eva-00' into Eva-02, knocking both to the ground.

"Damn it! What's up with this thing?!" Asuka asked.

"It appears that this Angel has somehow obtained the abilities of all the other Angels previously fought," Rei answered.

Azrael's head suddenly morphed in that of Sandelphon and it closed its jaws over Unit-02. Asuka tried to endure the pain, but it was incredible. Not wanting to give her a chance, Azrael morphed its left hand into that of Israfel and severed Eva-02's umbilical cord.

* * *

"This is it! We've reached the Geo-Front!" said Shinji. Rokusho and Meta Knight exited the shaft just after Shinji and looked around.

"It looks like we're still outside!" said the white Medabot.

"But we are underground, are we not?" asked Meta Knight.

"It's kinda hard to explain," said Shinji. A loud crash suddenly knocked everyone off their feet and debris began to fall from above.

"Watch out!" warned Rokusho.

"Leviathan, defend us!" shouted Meta Knight. The Aqua Stone shone brightly and the watery serpentine spirit emerged and flew over the heads of the stone holders, protecting them from harm.

"Hey, we're okay," said Shinji.

"Let's go, now!" said Meta Knight, "Shinji, please lead the way."

"Uh, right. Follow me," said the Third Child. He, Meta Knight, and Rokusho ran across the field towards the pyramidal structure while Leviathan flew overhead, blocking any falling debris, which was undoubtedly being caused by the battle on the surface. A large piece of metal broke off and started to fall at an alarming rate towards the stone holders.

"That piece is too big for the water spirit to protect us from!" exclaimed Rokusho.

"Leviathan, attack!" ordered Meta Knight.

Leviathan roared and a diamond-shaped shape seemingly made of energy appeared around its head. The spirit of the Aqua Stone reared back its head before firing a beam at the massive piece of debris, destroying it upon impact.

"Nicely done!" said Rokusho.

"Things are not over, yet," said Meta Knight, "Look!" Up ahead, several Blackhearted minions suddenly appeared. Most of them were Shadows and Soldiers, but some appeared to be floating one-foot-tall lanterns of different colored – red, yellow, and blue.

"What are those things?" asked Shinji.

Meta Knight took out something that Otaku had given him and opened it.

"ADI Headquarters. Richie Williams here."

"Richie, we need information on some new Blackhearted," said Meta Knight.

"I'm on it!" said the young Pokémon trainer. He began to type furiously and in about a minute, he reported the results of his search.

"Okay, the red ones are called Red Spells. The blue ones are Blue Enchantments. The yellow ones are Yellow Curses. They fire, ice, and thunder attacks respectively," said Richie.

"Shinji, go on! We'll take care of these Blackhearted!" said Rokusho.

"Alright," said Shinji before running off.

"Let's go, Meta Knight," said Rokusho.

"Right," said the spherical swordsman as he drew his weapon.

"CHANBARA SWORD!" Rokusho blazed through the ranks of the Blackhearted and swung his sword as he passed.

"Sword Beam!" Meta Knight swung his blade and a single energy beam flew out and struck down several Blackhearted.

* * *

Shinji made it inside NERV headquarters and began running through the corridors. The place was crawling with Blackhearted and various NERV personnel were shooting the deadly creatures with whatever available weapons were at hand.

"Over here! More are coming!" shouted one guard.

"Backup! I need backup!" another shouted into his radio.

Shinji ran past all the action trying to get down to the cage as quickly as possible. He knew that his skills, no matter how much he or anyone else looked down upon them, were needed on the surface. By coincidence, he ran into a man with long dark haired tied back behind his head in the process.

"Kaji!" he said.

"Shinji! Where have you been? We need you!" said Kaji. Quickly, he grabbed Shinji by the arm and dragged him down to the cage. Upon arrival, he was greeted by Ritsuko.

"Shinji, get into your plug suit and prepare for launch," said the blonde scientist.

"Yes, ma'am!" said Shinji. He quickly ran down to the dressing room and changed into his blue and white plug suit. As soon as he was finished, he ran back and entered his Entry Plug.

"Unit-01's entry plug is ready," said Ritsuko, "Inserting now."

Shinji held on as his Entry Plug was slowly inserted into the back of his Evangelion. LCL soon began to fill the plug and completely submerged him. A few moments later, he could clearly see everything outside his Entry Plug.

"Eva-01 is now ready for launch," said Ritsuko.

"Commence launch!" ordered Gendo through the com.

Alarms blared as the umbilical bridge slowly moved away from Eva-01, which was followed by both the primary and secondary restraints. Shinji sat patiently in his seat as his Eva was moved towards the launch pad. The Destiny Stone, which he felt he would somehow need, hung around his neck. The pad locked into place and the shaft opened.

"The launch shaft is all clear," said Maya.

"Eva launch!" shouted Misato.

Shinji held on for dear life as his Eva shot up the shaft at blazing speed. Up on the surface, warning lights flashed and alarms sounded as a section of the street opened up, allowing Eva-01 to emerge.

"Final safety locks disengaged!" ordered Misato.

The remaining restraints were removed and Eva-01 lurched forward. Before him, Shinji could see Eva-00' and Eva-02 being severely beaten by Azrael.

"It's Shinji!" exclaimed Asuka, "WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?!!"

"Well, I uh…" Shinji stammered.

Azrael turned its attention away from the two beaten Evas and focused on Unit-01. Everything following happened in a flash. Before he knew it, Shinji found himself and his Eva smashed into the side of a building.

"Shinji, get up!" Misato shouted.

Slowly but surely, the giant purple-armored life form rose to its feet. The wall of a nearby skyscraper slide open, revealing a Pallet Gun. Eva-01 quickly grabbed the weapon and opened fire on the Blackhearted Angel. Azrael, however, seemed unaffected by the assault and stood in place until the gun's ammo had all been used up.

Tossing the used weapon aside, Eva-01 reached into its left shoulder blade and took out its Progressive Knife. Raising its glowing blade over its head, it charged forward and brought it down on the Angel only to run right into an AT Field. Shinji prepared to activate his Eva's own AT Field when Azrael suddenly grabbed both of its arms with those of Sachiel and pulled. Pain shot through Shinji's arms as the tension intensified. Azrael finally let go of Eva-01 only to hit it in the face with an energy spear.

"Just hold on, Shinji!" said Misato, trying to keep the boy's spirits up.

Eva-01 stood up once again only to be met by a piece of Azrael's body which exploded upon contact. The Angel suddenly extended its arms to three times their length and grabbed the Eva by the throat, apparently using one of Bardiel's techniques. Even its arms had changed to look like those of Eva-03.

* * *

"This is bad," said Misato.

"Shinji will make it," came a mechanical voice. The NERV staff turned and saw Rokusho and Meta Knight standing at the entrance.

"Who are you and how did you get in here?" demanded Fuyutsuki.

"We're acquaintances of Shinji," said Rokusho.

"Someone get them out of here!" ordered Misato.

Just then, a Shadow appeared on the console in front of Gendo. Rokusho quickly went and slashed the dark minion with his Chanbara Sword, destroying it.

"We'll take care of the Blackhearted!" said Meta Knight as more Blackhearted minions appeared.

* * *

Shinji strained as Azrael's grip tightened around his Eva's neck, strangling him in the process. As if it wasn't bad enough, the Blackhearted Angel suddenly sprouted Arael's wings from its back and Matariel's eye formed over where its core was and began secreting acid. (A/N: Azrael's kinda leaning over Eva-01, hence why it's able use the acid.) The corrosive liquid slowly dripped poured down and began to eat away at the Eva's purple armor.

"I mustn't run away. I mustn't run away. I mustn't run away," Shinji muttered to himself as he struggled to resist the Angel's onslaught. As the pain intensified and his breath shortened, the Destiny Stone slowly began to radiate with a bright light. Shinji opened his eyes for a moment and looked down at the glowing crystal. The symbol of Fate suddenly appeared within the stone.

"I…can…do it," said Shinji.

Outside of his Entry Plug, Azrael had just begun to morph its head into Sachiel's in hopes that it could blast Eva-01 at point blank when a bright light suddenly shone out from the armored life form. A pair of wings seemingly made of light (A/N: like in End of Eva) emerged from its back and Azrael was blasted away. Eva-01 slowly rose to its feet and a giant angel wielding a sword floated out and appeared before the Blackhearted Angel.

* * *

"What is that?" Misato asked as she and the rest of the NERV staff watched the screens.

"The spirit of the Destiny Stone has awakened!" exclaimed Meta Knight, which undoubtedly caused everyone but Rokusho to turn to him in confusion.

* * *

Shinji, now free from Azrael's hold, looked up to see the spirit of his Stone floating just over him.

"Seraphim," he whispered.

Azrael quickly jumped back onto its feet and made some sort of odd motion with its arms as if it was roaring or something related to such an action. The Seraphim spirit raised its sword and flew towards the creature of darkness at full speed. A second flashed as the holy blade cleaved through Azrael's body, spilling blue blood everywhere.

The second the sacred spirit withdrew and returned to the Destiny Stone, Eva-01 rose up and stood on its two feet. The sound of a beating heart echoed through the thickened air as Shinji gripped the controls at his sides. Just as it had done many times in the past, the mouth of Eva-01 burst open, revealing it bloodstained teeth, and the massive behemoth let out an ear-splitting roar.

* * *

"What happened?" asked Rokusho.

"Shinji's just lost control," said Maya.

"Berserker," Ritsuko whispered.

* * *

Eva-01 crouched down on the ground and leapt high up into the air. It landed feet first on Azrael and immediately grabbed onto it. The Blackhearted Angel reached up and tried to pull the synthetic life form off, but without any luck. Eva-01 growled menacingly before rearing back is head and smashing it into Azrael's face before jumping off and landing behind it. The berserk NERV creation quickly turned around and ran straight towards its opponent, tackling it in the back and sending the dark Angel into a large building before going in for another charge.

Azrael quickly brought its hands on the building's roof and backflipped over it just as Eva-01 smashed into the spot it had occupied seconds ago. The Angel landed on the ground behind the structure and quickly morphed its arms into those of Zeruel. Now armed with a pair of incredibly long flexible blades, it lashed out at its opponent. Eva-01 quickly leapt out of the way as the blades cleaved through everything between them and their target. Undaunted, Azrael continued its assault, the Blackhearted insignia surrounding its core beginning to emit a dull purple aura.

Not far away from where the battle was taking place, Eva-00' and Eva-02 slowly got up off the ground and turned to look at the fight between the two opposing forces.

"I have never seen Unit-01 fight so ferociously before," Rei commented.

"Maybe Shinji's finally gotten a spine," Asuka said smugly.

Azrael lashed out again, but this time Eva-01 was prepared. It held out its and the blade hit it with full force only to be split into several thin strips by five purple fingers. Unit-01 immediately grabbed the blade and yanked, reeling the Angel in. a short struggle ensued followed by a kick to the stomach, which tore the blade and sent Azrael back. Eva-01 tossed the useless blade strips aside and pounced on its enemy only to hit its incredibly powerful AT Field which was, in fact, just as strong as the one used by Tabris, if not stronger.

* * *

"They seem to be evenly matched," said Meta Knight.

"If this keeps up, the whole city will end up in ruins," said Rokusho.

They continued to watch as Eva-01 and Azrael fought viciously, neither force seeming to show any signs of wear. Unit-01 was practically invincible whenever it went berserk and Azrael had the abilities of all the Angels that NERV had encountered in the past. It was impossible to tell who had the upper hand.

"Commander Ikari, we've found an unidentified being within the area of the battlefield!" said Makoto.

"What?! Is it an Angel?" asked Misato.

"Negative, its blood is red," said Shigeru as he looked at the analysis on his screen.

"Let's see it," said Gendo.

The three NERV lieutenants worked on their consoles until they finally brought up an image on the screen. It showed a lone man with long dark brown hair dressed in dark clothing. He wore something across his face that seemed to cover his left eye while surrounding his right one like an eyeglass frame.

"Who is that?" asked Fuyutsuki.

* * *

The lone man stood on a building watching the fight. He had no idea how it happened, but somehow he had been transported to this world.

__

Why did I follow that boy? he thought to himself. (A/N: Remember what Riku said in the last chapter about someone following him and having to dump him off in a random world?) Somehow, he could sense a difference between the two battling behemoths. One, although as wild as a rabid beast, seemed to emit some sort of innocence from within. The other seemed to radiate with pure evil. Kaze knew immediately what he had to do. The wind blew his cloak aside, revealing a large golden cylinder covering his right arm from the elbow down. He raised his arm and held the cylinder across his chest.

"Soil, my strength!" he cried. Immediately, the green circle lit up and retracted into the cylinder only to be replaced by a spinning propeller. The cylinder broke off Kaze's arm and reformed into some sort of golden three-barrel gun clasped onto his forearm. Within a transparent glass chamber clearly visible on the weapon was a beating black heart covered with red veins. A small drill-like projection spun rapidly on the side as Kaze held up the strange device.

"Demon Gun, dissolve!" The wind finally died down and Kaze stood on the building pointing his weapon at Azrael.

* * *

"What is he doing?" asked Gendo.

"We're about to find out," said Rokusho.

* * *

"Who is that?" Shinji wondered out loud as he looked down from his Entry Plug while his Eva continued to fight.

"I've chosen the Soil for you!" said Kaze, pointing to Azrael. Reaching for his belt, he pulled out a bullet-shaped canister with a golden head and end. In between was a glass tube containing some sort of black soil.

"Origin of all, Mother Black!" Kaze flipped the canister into the air with his thumb as though he were flipping a coin. Three ports opened up in the back of his Demon Gun and the canister slid into one, which closed as soon as the projectile was fully inserted. Kaze then reached for his belt again and pulled out another canister, this time containing a sample of bright red soil.

"One that burns everything, Fire Red!" Just as he had done with the Mother Black soil, the canister containing the red soil slid into the second port and was sealed off. Kaze then smacked the side of his belt with his left hand and a canister containing golden soil popped out from its case.

"The critical point of it all, Burning Gold!" The soil flashed in the light of the sun for a second before it was inserted into the last port. As soon as all three were sealed, the Demon Gun's heart sped up, as did the drill-like projection.

"What is he doing?" asked Asuka as she and Rei continued to watch on the side after managing to climb out of their Entry Plugs and now sat on their Evas.

"Burn!" said Kaze as he brought the Demon Gun forward and took aim, "Summon Creature…**PHOENIX**!" He pulled the trigger and an explosion erupted from the weapon's three barrels, creating a large cloud of smoke. Three beams – one black, one red, and one gold – emerged and spiraled towards Azrael.

Sensing that something was coming, Azrael raised its AT Field. However, it was unable to block the three beams that spiraled towards it. They broke through the protective energy shield and hit Azrael with full force. Everyone who saw the whole thing blinked in confusion, wondering what just happened when Azrael's body slowly began to bloat up as a fiery red glow began to radiate from deep beneath the dark flesh. Eva-01 took that moment to grab its Progressive Knife from where it lay on the ground and jammed it deep into the Angel's core. Sparks flew as the glowing blade dug deeper and deeper into the red crystalline sphere. At the same time, Azrael's body continued to expand. Finally, the core cracked and a burst of fire erupted from the Angel, shattering the blood-red orb and spilling blue blood and black flesh everywhere. The flames rose high into the air and took on the form of a massive bird; a phoenix. The phoenix's cry echoed through Tokyo-3 as it flew up into the sky and disappeared.

* * *

"So, how did you get here?" Shinji asked Kaze.

"The outer world was attacked. I tried to follow one of the attackers, but he dropped me here as soon as he discovered me," answered the holder of the Demon Gun.

"Well, why don't you come with us?" asked Rokusho, "We could always use more help."

Kaze hesitated for a moment before he finally nodded in agreement.

"Shinji." The Third Child turned and saw Misato standing there.

"Yes, Misato?" Shinji asked as he walked up to her.

"You did a good job fighting that Angel," said the NERV captain, "And your two friends explained everything to me. I managed to get permission from commander Ikari. Shinji, take Unit-01."

"Huh?" asked the fourteen-year-old boy. This caught him off guard. The Evas were strict property of NERV. Removal of them was considered a high breach in security.

"Take it," said Misato.

"Well, okay," said Shinji.

"Let us be off," said Meta Knight.

A portal leading back to ADI headquarters opened up and the three stone holders, along with Kaze and Eva-01, stepped through.

"There they go," said Misato, "Hopefully, things will calm down soon."

No sooner as those words left her mouth, a dark portal appeared in the sky and a massive red and black two-headed bird with a long tail burst through. As it descended, it seemed to transform. Its heads turned into feet and its tail appeared on the left arm of a massive red and black winged robot.

"This is Zechs Merquise," a voice came from the robot, "Surrender to the Blackhearted now." Several Shadows and Soldiers appeared near the robot's feet and surrounded the NERV personnel.

"We will never surrender," said Gendo, firmly.

"Then feel the power of the Gundam Epyon!" said Zechs. Epyon pulled out its beam sword and the blade activated automatically. As Zechs prepared to eliminate his opponents, the Terra Stone began to glow and a giant mass of brown energy appeared behind his Gundam and took on the form of a giant with a bull's head and a large axe in its hands.

"Feel the power of the Minotaur!" said Zechs as his stone's spirit and Epyon brought down their weapons.

__

TO BE CONTINUED…

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NEXT TIME:

We turn to Link, Ashitaka, and Kaiba are in Hyrule on a mission to save it and defeat the King of Evil. But what of Princess Zelda? Could she be one of the seven maidens Yami Malik spoke about? Read and find out.

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Hope you enjoyed it and please review.


	9. Horror in Hyrule

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Disclaimer: I do not own any of the anime series involved in this fic.

I do, however, own the ADI, Otaku, the Blackhearted, and Lord Diabolus.

And to answer the question of Anifan X, I'm using Kai from _Beyblade G-Revolution_ (the third season).

And the Dragoon I'm using is from _Beyblade 2002_, also known as _Beyblade V-Force_.

NOTE: This chapter contains spoilers from the game _The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time_, those of you who have never played the game.

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****

UNITED WE STAND AS ONE

Horror in Hyrule

"You've been calling for that horse for the past hour, already," said Kaiba, "For all we know, it could be dead."

"I know Epona's still alive," said Link, "Let's head to Kakariko Village for now. It's just as the foot of Death Mountain."

"There isn't much else we can do now," said Ashitaka.

Together, the three of them trekked across Hyrule Field and made their way to Kakariko Village. For some reason it was the only place where the Blackhearted seemed to avoid, making it a safe haven for anyone who had fled from the diabolical creatures. The stone holders walked through the village and entered the first house, where the owner had agreed with Link to let them stay. The Hero of Time sat down on one of the beds and rested his shield and the Master Sword against the wall. Kaiba sat down in a chair and removed his Duel Disk, placing it on the table in front of him. Ashitaka had removed his hood and sword and placed them on a shelf before going over to sit in the chair across from Kaiba.

"Stew will be ready shortly," said the woman who owned the house as she stirred around in her pot.

"Thank you," said Link.

"So, what's our next move?" asked Kaiba as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Well, my guess is that Ganondorf is the reason why the Blackhearted are even here in Hyrule," Link explained, "My guess is we should find him. I also have a strong belief that he's also holding Princess Zelda captive."

"Who's Princess Zelda?" Ashitaka inquired.

"She's the Princess of Hyrule," answered Link, "Or at least she was until Ganondorf took over using the Triforce of Power."

"Explain to us," said Kaiba.

***

Ganondorf, the King of Evil, strode up the long winding stairs of his tower within his castle. His long red cloak flapped behind him as his heavy footsteps echoed through the castle corridors. Mounting the stairs next to him was Yami Malik, who was clutching the Millennium Rod tightly in his grip.

"So you captured her?" asked Yami Malik.

"Yes," replied the King of Evil, "Princess Zelda is in our grasp. We are one step closer to releasing Lord Diabolus from his prison."

"We are not even sure IF she is one of the Seven Maidens who hold the key to opening the gateway," reminded the evil spirit, "I will consult Lord Diabolus first."

"Of course. But honestly, why even bother with Princess Zelda?" asked Ganondorf.

"We need all Seven Maidens to release Lord Diabolus. Any fewer is useless," answered Yami Malik.

"Well if she's that important, we'll keep her here," said Ganondorf as he and his companion entered the highest chamber in the castle. Suspended near the ceiling right over Ganondorf's massive organ was Princess Zelda encased in a clear purple crystal.

"Remember Ganondorf, don't let the darkness consume your heart too much. The Blackhearted feed upon it and you may very well be their next victim," said Yami Malik.

"I have everything under control," said Ganondorf. Turning towards the center of the room, he held out his right hand and several Blackhearted minions appeared. Each one was dressed in a jet-black tunic with torso armor overtop. Black leather boots covered their feet as dark-colored helmets rested on their heads. They each wielded a single sword and each bore the symbol of the Blackhearted on its chest.

"And if that green-clad kid gets in the way, my Marauders will take care of him," added the Gerudo leader.

"We shall see," said Yami Malik before he disappeared into a portal, taking him back to Blackhearted headquarters.

***

Riku sat on one side of a long table in a dimly lit hall cutting through a steak with his knife. Zechs sat a small ways down across from him. Mewtwo was off elsewhere and no one had any idea where the Warrior of Chaos was. However, a rumor had only just recently begun to float around the compound, but it remained mostly within the small group of Blackhearted stone holders.

"So, the Warrior of Chaos is going on a mission?" asked Riku before placing a piece of meat into his mouth.

"That's what I heard, anyway," answered Zechs.

"It's about time he did something for a change," said the Warrior of Darkness.

__

Don't underestimate his power, said Mewtwo.

"I'll believe it when I see it," said Riku.

"Do not doubt the powers of the Warrior of Chaos," said a demonic voice. A large flame suddenly appeared on the floor and it cast a large horned shadow onto the wall.

__

Lord Diabolus! Mewtwo quickly acknowledged as he, Riku, and Zechs quickly knelt down on one knee before the demon lord.

"What news have you for me thus far?" asked Diabolus.

"We're preparing to retrieve the next maiden," said Zechs.

"Excellent. But tell Ganondorf that although his efforts were admirable, they were in vain," said Diabolus.

"I'll go," said Riku as he stood up.

"And you also worry about the Warrior of Chaos," continued the demon, "You need not worry for it was I who sent him forward."

***

Kaiba was standing atop the viewing tower in Kakariko village looking towards the direction of Hyrule Town.

"See anything?" Link called from the bottom.

"Nothing yet!" Kaiba replied back.

"We'll have to go to that castle sooner or later. Might as well make it now," said Ashitaka.

"You're right. Let's go," said Link.

Within a few minutes, the three of them were flying towards Ganon's castle on the back of one of Kaiba's majestic Blue-Eyes White Dragons. They landed just outside the black stone structure only to see a boy staring across the lava pit at it. The boy's hair was blue and he was dressed in red clothes overtop a white shirt, a red cap, a pair of leather gloves, and boots. Across his back was some kind of cylindrical pack. In each hand, he carried a short sword. He turned to look at the stone holders as they approached.

"Who are you?" asked Link.

"Me? Well, I'm Kite," said the boy. (A/N: Yep, that's Kite from the _.hack_ video game series)

"My name is Link. And this is Kaiba and that is Ashitaka," Link introduced, "Tell me something, Kite. How on earth did you get here?"

"It was really weird," said the blunette, "I was playing The World…"

"Playing the world?" Ashitaka asked.

"It's an online computer game," said Kite. Link and Ashitaka looked at him with a blank stare since their worlds were in times before technology was invented. Kaiba, on the other hand, since his world was in the present day era, seemed unimpressed.

"Anyway, I was playing when I came across this weird Data Bug. I fought it as best as I could. Just when I was about to Data Drain it, there was bright flash of light and the next moment I knew it, I was here."

"Odd," said Ashitaka.

"Let me get this straight," said Kaiba, "Before all this happened you were playing a computer game and now you're stuck as the character you were playing as."

"Yeah, that's basically it," said Kite.

"Greaet. Now that that's been set aside, how do we get across?" asked Kaiba as he looked over at Ganon's Castle.

As of on cue, shimmering gold particles of light rained down from the sky and formed into a crystalline bridge connecting the rock to a side door into the castle.

"Well, that's one way to get in," said Kite.

"It was the Sages," said Link, "They formed this bridge for us. Come on. Let's hurry."

The four of them ran across the bridge and into the castle. They descended down a short flight of stairs and entered through a small door, emerging into a large chamber. In the center was a large pillar – a tower. Along the walls of the chamber were five doors, each with a symbol over it, and a massive stone column.

"What's all this?" asked Ashitaka.

"That pillar in the center must be Ganon's Tower," said Link.

"Well let's go get him!" said Kite. He ran towards the tower entrance and was promptly thrown back.

"What was that?" asked Ashitaka.

"Some kind of force field," Kaiba guessed, "Let's try to break through it." He activated his Duel Disk and drew a card.

"Battle Ox, go! Break through that barrier!" he ordered as he slapped the card down onto the surface of his device. The Beast-Warrior appeared and swung its axe at the barrier. No luck.

"Staccato!" shouted Kite as he unleashed a fury of slashes with his twin blades.

"I think we need to destroy what's powering up that barrier," said Link. He pointed upward and everyone's eyes followed. Six spikes were jutting out of the walls and each was feeding a spike on the tower with some form of energy, each beam a different color.

"Must be some kind of magic," Kite guessed. Everyone agreed, even Kaiba, who didn't believe in magic (but then again, anyone's mind can change thanks to the recent events).

"So what do we do now?" asked Ashitaka.

"We'll bring down those barriers," said Link as he noted all the doors along the walls, "Everyone, pick a door."

***

Kite stood at the entrance of the Water Barrier chamber rubbing his arms. It certainly wasn't what he had in mind. Everything, walls and ceiling included, was covered with ice.

"When they said Water Barrier, I didn't expect it to be so cold," he said shivering before letting out a sneeze.

***

Ashitaka delivered one final slash to the Like Like before it finally died. He

"At last," he said, "Now I just need to get across to that door." He re-sheathed his sword and got to work on lighting a spark on his arrow so he could gain access to the core of the Shadow Barrier.

***

Kaiba got quite a shock when he entered the Fire Barrier chamber. It was unbearably hot.

"If I don't act fast, I'll be boiled to death," he muttered as he drew a card from his deck and placed it onto his Duel Disk, "Go Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" The device registered the card and the massive dragon emerged and roared. It opened its mouth before firing a powerful White Lightning towards the door on the other side of the chamber.

***

Link finished putting on the Hover Boots as he prepared to face the challenge in the second chamber of the Forest Barrier. He had beaten the Wolfos in the previous chamber and was now preparing to cross the massive pit that made up most of the floor of the second.

"It's now or never," he said to himself. The fan next to him was blowing at full force. He stepped off the platform and the wind carried him to another one. He continued this pattern, collecting silver Rupees and destroying the Beamos. In no time at all, the chamber to the Forest Barrier core opened. He stepped up the glowing sphere, loaded a Light Arrow into his bow, and took aim.

"Ready," said the Hylian Hero of Time, "FIRE!" He released the arrow.

***

"Blue-Eyes White Dragon, White Lighting attack!" commanded Kaiba as the massive dragon unleashed a powerful blast the Fire Barrier core.

***

"THUNDER COIL!" shouted Kite as he slashed at the Water Barrier core with his sparking twin blades.

***

Ashitaka took aim and released his arrow.

***

Four beams fazed out simultaneously as the three stone holders and one outlaw player emerged into the main chamber.

"That's four down. Two more to go," said Link.

"We'll split up," said Kaiba.

"I'll go with Kaiba," said Ashitaka.

"Then I'll go with Link," said Kite.

"Right, we meet back here once we're done," said Link, "Let's go!" And with that, he and Kite ran towards the Light Barrier while Kaiba and Ashitaka headed towards the Spirit Barrier.

***

"How are we going to get through?" Kite asked as he looked up at the massive stone blocking their way.

"With these," said Link as he pulled on the Golden Gauntlets, "Ashitaka found them when he was inside the Shadow Barrier chamber." The Hero of Time grasped the bottom of the stone and pulled with all his might. The massive monolith came out and he tossed it behind him. The rock hit the side of the barrier surrounding the tower and shattered.

"Nice," said Kite.

***

Kaiba and Ashitaka stood looking at the room filled with moving spikes and statues.

"It will be difficult to cross," said the young prince.

"I doubt that," said Kaiba as he placed two cards down onto his Duel Disk, "Battle Ox and Maha Vailo, emerge!" Two glowing squares appeared on the floor in front of Kaiba and from them emerged the axe-wielding beast-warrior and the blue-robed spellcaster. The two monsters seemed to have read their master's mind, as they immediately went across the room, pushing the statues closer to the spikes in order to immobilize them.

***

A few minutes later, the last two barriers fell and the single barrier surrounding Ganon's Tower dissipated.

"Let's go!" said Link.

***

"What?!" asked Ganondorf.

"Lord Diabolus says Zelda's not one of the Seven Maidens," said Riku, "Dispose of her as soon as you can."

"What? After all that trouble trying to catch her?" asked the King of Evil, miffed.

"I'm not the one who decides these things," said the Warrior of Darkness, "Hmm, it also seems that the ADI's stone holders have gotten past your barriers."

"Leave them to me," said Ganondorf, "Besides, I already possess a portion of the Key to this world: the Triforce of Power. All I need are the other Triforce parts and the Ocarina of Time."

"Don't screw up," said Riku as he left via portal.

***

"That was a lot of bats," said Ashitaka as the party of four left the first chamber.

"Those aren't bats. Those were Fire Keese," said Link.

"Wha?" asked Kite right before he was cut off by a quick roar.

"Dinolfos," said Link as he drew the Master Sword.

"I will help," said Ashitaka.

The two swordsmen faced the two reptilian monsters. It wasn't long before both of them vanquished the beasts, allowing them to continue forward. The next chamber, they found, contained a more difficult challenge: two Stalfos. The battle lasted very briefly as Kite and Kaiba's Swordstalker made quick work of the skeletal soldiers.

"What's with this chest?" Kaiba asked, indicating towards the large treasure chest in the center of the room. Wordlessly, Link opened the chest and pulled out a golden key with two horn-like projections and a red jewel set into its center.

The next chamber was guarded by two heavily-armored axemen: Iron Knuckles. Kite was able to bring down one, though not without difficulty, while Link destroyed the other, replacing the Master Sword with the Biggoron Sword.

"We're almost there!" said Link as he led the way up the many stairs. They arrived into a large room with a massive pillar in the center. Link continued forward with Kaiba, Kite, and Ashitaka behind him. As they ascended a long flight of stairs, Kite suddenly noticed something.

"Do you guys hear an organ playing?" he asked.

"Now that you mention it, I do," replied Kaiba, "And it's getting louder."

"We must be getting close," said Ashitaka.

The four eventually arrived at the top of the staircase, where they found a massive door. And coming from it was the organ mush they had heard. Turning towards each other, they nodded once before entering the chamber.

The room was filled with golden stained-glass windows. At the far end was a massive pipe organ and floating above it, trapped inside a purple crystal, was Zelda.

"Hey Link, your hand is glowing," said Kite.

"Huh?" Link looked at his left and sure enough, the symbol of the Triforce appeared with the Triforce of Courage glowing brighter than the other two. Up above them, the same was happening to Zelda as the Triforce of Wisdom shone brightly.

"The Triforce parts are resonating," came a voice. Kite, Link, Kaiba, and Ashitaka looked towards the organ where they saw Ganondorf sitting with his back facing them.

"Ganondorf, let Zelda go!" shouted Link.

Ganondorf let out an evil laugh and turned to face the four, throwing his cape back in the process.

"You want her? Feel free to take her!" he said as he held up his right hand where the Triforce of Power glowed brightly. Waves of darkness suddenly poured out of him as several Marauders climbed out of the floor.

"Take care of the Blackhearted!" said Link, "Ganondorf is mine!" He Hero of Time rushed forward and faced the evil Gerudo king as he floated over the floor.

"So you finally came to save the princess," said Ganondorf.

"I'm going to do whatever it takes to get her back," said Link as he unsheathed the Master Sword and slipped the Mirror Shield over his right arm.

"'Whatever it takes' won't be enough for you, kid!" said the King of Evil as his organ disappeared from sight. He held a hand over his head and formed a Plasma Charge.

"Take this!" he said and threw the deadly energy ball at Link. The young swordsman leapt out of the way and watched as the Plasma Charge took out a piece of the floor.

***

"Battle Ox, Swordstalker, Dark Zebra, and Rude Kaiser! Attack!" ordered Kaiba. The four monsters nodded their acknowledgement and rushed over to where the Marauders were currently dancing (if you can call it dancing) around. Ashitaka fired arrow after arrow at oncoming Shadows and drew his sword only when one got too close.

"Staccato!" shouted Kite as he unleashed a fury of slashes upon a Marauder.

"There's too many!" exclaimed Ashitaka.

"Then I'll even the odds," said Kaiba as he drew a card, "I summon the Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" The mighty dragon appeared in the room and roared. Opening its gaping maw, it let loose a powerful White Lightning and swept it across the ranks of Blackhearted minions, obliterating them all.

"Nice work," said Kite.

"It was nothing," replied Kaiba.

***

Meanwhile, the battle between Link and Ganondorf was heating up.

"Let's see you handle this!" said the King of Evil. He held his hands over his head and created a vortex. Several small Plasma Charges gathered inside it.

__

There's no way I can deflect that. Unless… Without wasting a valuable second, Link drew back his left arm and charged up the Master Sword. As soon as Ganondorf released his Plasma Storm, Link spun around rapidly and knocked back each blast back at its source. He immediately drew his Fairy Bow, loaded a Light Arrow, and fired. The holy light hit the evil king and Link leapt in and slashed with all his might.

"Take this!" he cried as he brought his sword down one last time before Ganondorf collapsed onto the floor, breathing heavily.

"I can't…believe it," said the Gerudo leader between breaths, "Beaten by this kid…" He suddenly jerked forward and vomited green blood. "…Link." He slowly stood up and raises his arms. Everyone in the room looked around as the windows began to shatter and the walls collapse. What seemed to be quite a short time ended soon and Ganondorf collapsed onto the floor of what used to be the topmost chamber of the castle.

"Is he dead?" asked Kaiba. Kite walked over to the fallen villain and poked him cautiously with one of his blades.

"Seems so," said Kite.

"It's over," said Link. Just then, a purple light shone from above and Zelda floated down, still trapped within her crystalline prison, which disappeared upon her landed. She looked down and saw Ganondorf lying on the ground.

All of a sudden, the entire castle began to shake.

"What's going on?" asked Ashitaka.

"Listen to me," said Zelda, "With his last breath, Ganondorf is trying to crush us under the debris of his castle. We must escape."

"This is the fastest way," said Kaiba as he climbed onto the back of his Blue-Eyes White Dragon, the same one he had just used on the Blackhearted. Kite jumped on first, followed by Ashitaka. Link helped Zelda onto the majecstic creature before getting on himself.

"Blue-Eyes, take flight!" commanded the Duelist. The dragon growled in acknowledgement and spread its wings. Its feet lifted off the stone just as Ganon's Tower began to collapse.

***

An hour later, the party stood next to the ruins of Ganon's Castle.

"It's over. It's finally over," said Zelda.

"We did it," exclaimed Kite.

"Yeah," Link said quietly.

Just then, a strange noise came from the center of the debris.

"What was that?" asked Kaiba.

"Let's go check it out," said Kite.

"Zelda, say here," said Link a she, Ashitaka, Kite, and Kaiba rushed into the castle ruins. As soon as they had entered the piles of debris, a wall of fire surrounded them and from the largest pile of rubble burst Ganondorf.

"After all that, he's still alive?!" Kaiba gasped.

"He's not human," said Ashitaka.

Ganondorf was breathing heavily as he looked down on them. He held up his right fist, where the Triforce of Power glowed brightly, and shouted, "Blackhearted, give me strength!" His Triforce mark turned black and his body suddenly took on a hideous transformation. Ganondorf had become a massive monster with giant horns, grotesque features, scaly skin, and a dull rainbow-colored tail armed with a pair of gargantuan swords. Ganondorf had become Ganon.

"Damn! How are we going to take him down?" asked Kite.

"I've had enough of this guy!" said Kaiba as he summoned his other two Blue-Eyes White Dragons, "Blue-Eyes White Dragons, combine into one!" He placed down his Polymerization card and his three dragons fused into the three-headed Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon.

"Let's go!" cried Link. He rushed forward, but Ganon swung one of his swords and knocked the Master Sword right out of Link's hand. The magical blade flew through the air and landed in the ground next to Zelda.

"That can't be good," said Kite.

"It isn't," replied Link as he drew the Biggoron Sword.

"I'm getting tired of this!" said Kaiba, "Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, Neutron Blast!" All three dragon heads opened their mouths and combined their White Lightnings to form a powerful energy blast, which they launched towards Ganon.

"GALE OF SWORDS!" shouted Kite as he slashed the massive monster with his Wood-based attack only to get knocked into a piece of wall. Ashitaka had a different approach. He kept his distance while firing arrows as the massive beast.

Link loaded a Light Arrow into his bow, took aim, and fired. The result was a stunned Ganon wile Link went in and slashed with all his might. Ganon swung his arm once and knocked the young Hylian back.

"Link!" screamed Zelda.

"This ends now!" shouted Kaiba, "I De-Fuse my dragon and sacrifice all three Blue-Eyes White Dragons to summon God of the Obelisk!" As soon as the blue God Card touched the Duel Disk, the massive blue behemoth arose and towered over the entire area, dwarfing even Ganon.

"And now I call upon the power of the Blitz Stone as well!" said the Duelist. The crystal of Thunder began to glow and the Dragon spirit within it erupted from its core and roared.

"I've never seen anything like that before," said Kite.

"Obelisk and Dragon, attack Ganon now!" ordered Kaiba. Dragon simply roared and slammed itself right into Ganon while Obelisk balled up his fist and slammed it into the demonic King of Evil.

"Link, come get the Master Sword!" shouted Zelda. Looking towards her direction, Link noticed that the firewall was gone. He quickly retreived the sacred weapon and ran back towards the battle.

"He's still alive!" exclaimed Ashitaka.

"Impossible!" said Kaiba.

Link looked at the sword-wielding behemoth and gripped the Master Sword tightly.

"If only Navi were here to help," he muttered.

A brilliant glow suddenly burst from the Chrono Stone around Link's neck. A small glowing ball of light with wings flew out of the crystal and circled around the Hero of Time.

"The spirit of the Stone of Time has awakened!" said Kaiba, "It's a Fairy!"

But it wasn't just any fairy. Link recognized it the moment it came out.

"Navi?" he asked quietly.

**__**

***FLASHBACK***

Dozens of Marauders lunged at Link.

"GAH!" Link braced himself for what was to come when a flash of light caused him to look up. What he saw he thought wasn't possible. Navi slowly fell to the ground after receiving the blow for Link.

"Navi!" the young hero shouted. As the Marauders disappeared, Link picked up his fairy friend.

"Link……save………Hyrule…" And with that, her light died.

"Navi, no!" A single tear fell from Link's eye (A/N: Okay, that's a bit out of character, but I needed it) _and landed on the fallen fairy. A blue light suddenly surrounded Navi and in an instant, she was replaced by a crystal blue as the Ocarina of Time._

****

***END FLASHBACK***

"Navi didn't die. Her spirit was just saved within the Chrono Stone!" Link said, finally understanding what had happened. He looked up at Ganon with rage in his eyes.

"For spreading evil and joining the Blackhearted, Ganon, your reign of terror ends now!" said the Hylian Hero, "Spirit of the Chrono Stone, do it!" Navi flew over Ganon and began sprinkling him with dust. The giant monster swung at her, but to no avail. He soon collapsed onto the ground and a beam of light struck him. Link followed the light to its source: Zelda.

"Link, I'm using my powers to contain the Evil King!" she said, "Use the Master Sword and deliver the final blow!"

Link looked at the Master Sword and noticed its blade charging up. He ran towards Ganon and slashed his face numerous times before stabbing the sword deep into his head. Ganon rose up and roared loudly in pain. As streams of black energy shot out of his body, the powers given to him by the Blackhearted. His body slowly degenerated until nothing was left.

"We've finally done it," said Kaiba.

"We beat him!" cried Kite.

Link just breathed a heavy sigh of relief. He looked up and saw Navi floating towards him. He reached out to touch the spirit of his old friend, but it quickly disappeared back into the Chrono Stone.

__

Well, at least Navi is still with me, he thought, _She still looks out for me, even in death._

***

Jim was drinking a milkshake when the green light on his console flashed.

"Hey! They're back!" he exclaimed. He quickly keyed in the commands and the portal gate opened up. Kaiba, Link, Ashitaka, and Kite stepped through and the eleven-year-old mechanic walked up to greet them.

"How was the mission?" asked Jim.

"Accomplished," said Link.

"Great. Hey, who's that?" Jim asked, indicating towards Kite.

"That's Kite. He was somehow taken to Hyrule from his own world," said Kaiba.

"We've got someone else like that here, too, who just came in," said Jim, "Anyway, everyone's waiting." And with that, they all left the transport room to join the rest of the stone holders and ADI staff.

***

"Are you ready for your mission, Bakura?" asked Yami Malik.

"I've been ready since the first moment you told me," said the spirit of the Millennium Ring.

"Thanks to leaving that boy in Hyrule, we were able to trace the location of the ADI headquarters," said Yami Malik, "Go there and destroy the stone holders from within!"

"It shall be done!" said Yami Bakura.

**__**

TO BE CONTINUED…

***********************************************************************************************************************

Shorter chapter than usual, but I had to finish it within a few hours before starting my vacation. Anyway, that Kite is the same one from the _.hack//_ games, just as Kaze in the last chapter was from _Final Fantasy: Unlimited_.

Anyway, please read and review.


	10. Attack on Home Base

****

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the anime or Japanese classics involved in this story.

I do, however, own the ADI, Otaku, the Blackhearted, and Lord Diabolus.

***********************************************************************************************************************

****

UNITED WE STAND AS ONE

Attack on Home Base

"To a job well done, people," said Otaku.

"HAI!" said the others simultaneously as they clanked their drinks together. The ADI was celebrating its current victory, mainly for two reasons. The first was for accomplishing four tasks at once. The other was to welcome the new additions.

"On behalf of everyone, I welcome you to the Anime Defense Initiative," Otaku said to Kaze and Kite.

"We're glad to be here," said Kite. Kaze just nodded his thanks.

"So, how did your mission go?" asked Takuya as he took a sip of Orange Crush.

"Well, Trunks finished off Cell in the end. But I managed to use one of the summon gems," said Li, who had changed out of his battle costume and was now wearing a simple yellow-sleeved, yellow-collared green T-shirt and blue jeans.

"You used a summon gem?" Takuya asked and Li nodded.

"It wasn't easy, though," said the young warlock, "It tends to take a lot out of you."

"I can guess," said Takuya as Li took a sip of his root beer.

"So your friend was actually turned into the spirit for your stone?" Diago asked Link.

"Apparently so," the Hero of Time answered.

"Gotta go for a bit, guys," said Jim as he got up from his seat with his drink in hand, "There's something I gotta take care of." And with that, he walked away.

"Everyone seems to be pretty cheerful," said Kai as he stood to the side.

"It's because they've accomplished so much," said Otaku, "Even in these dark times, they're in high spirits. It's that shred of light within their hearts that's our key to defeating the Blackhearted."

"I see your point," the silver-haired Beyblader said, "As long they're happy, or feeling any other good emotions, the light will always shine through the darkness."

"Not exactly the words I was looking for, but they'll do," said Otaku.

"Anyway, if you need me, sir, I'll be in the security room on the first night shift," said Kai before turning around and disappearing through the door.

***

"Wind, Moon, Fate, and Time. The spirits of these four stone have already awakened," said Diabolus, "Malik already plans to destroy the ADI from within. But ensure that his plan does not destroy the stones." The figure standing before Diabolus' flame nodded before turning around and disappearing into the shadows of the corridors outside the chapel.

"Can you really trust him?" asked Riku as he leaned against the wall with his arms cross over his chest.

"We'll have to this time," said Zechs.

__

Lord Diabolus has made his decision. We must follow his orders, Mewtwo added.

"Yeah well, I'm going to bed," said Riku as he got off the wall and turned to leave for his quarters. Upon arriving there, he removed the Shadow Stone from around his neck and placed it around that of a small statue before throwing himself back first onto the bed.

__

Why am I here? thought the silver-haired teen as he placed his arms behind his head without removing his eyes from the ceiling, _I could've just as easily been carried off to some other world. So why was I brought here in particular?_ He suddenly realized that the thoughts he just had were not unlike the one he used to ponder about before he left his home on the Destiny Islands. He sighed. Turning his head, Riku's eyes fell upon the Shadow Stone. He could sense the spirit within moving about. Whether he realized it or not, darkness had once again claimed him.

***

"Our numbers are dwindling," said Cherubimon, "The ADI's stone holders are clearly stronger than we anticipated."

"Soon, we'll be far weaker than they are!" added Dr. Meda-Evil.

"How much more can we do if there's just the four of us left?" asked Zirconia.

"We don't need to face them head-on," said Yami Malik, "We can strike from within. As we speak, Bakura is preparing to infiltrate ADI headquarters. When we deposited that boy in Hyrule, we also planted a tracer on his person. Now we know exactly where our enemies lay. Zirconia, are the new minions ready?"

"They are indeed," said the evil circus master, "As per your orders, they have been designed to specifically suit Bakura."

"Excellent. Now it is only a matter of time before our foes fall," said Yami Malik as he clutched the Millennium Rod tightly in his hands.

***

Night soon befell ADI headquarters. Security was as tight as usual ready to stun any intruders, allowing everyone to get some sleep. Takuya lay asleep in bed wearing his T-shirt and boxers while the Pyro Stone hung from the hook right next to his headboard. In the room next to his, Yomiko slept fully clothed, as usual, her glasses still fixed to her face. Meta Knight slept facing the ceiling, his eyes dimmed. Kaiba's coat hung on the hook on the door while his deck rested on the desk next to the Blitz Stone as the Duelist got some rest. Li slept peacefully, wearing a set of green silk pyjamas. Ami sat in bed for a while reading before she turned out her light, put aside her book, and laid down to sleep. With no need for a bed, Rokusho sat in a chair deactivated, his eyes dimmed like Meta Knights. Daigo lay on his side in bed while his GUTS uniform hung from the hooks on the wall. Link's weapons, gauntlets, and cap rested on the table in his quarters as the hero, himself, got some rest of his own. Trunks had fallen into a deep sleep, as had Shinji in the next room. Ashitaka was sleeping soundly.

In another part of the HQ, the ADI staff as also enjoying a good night's rest, those who weren't on nighttime duty or doing something else. Sora lay under the covers of his bed, his back turned towards the door. The light in Ryo's room was still on, seeing as the Legendary Tamer had fallen asleep at his desk. Albert turned around in bed mumbling something about new omelette recipes. Kaze's bed lay empty while Kaze himself sat in a nearby chair. Duero sat awake in the infirmary tending to a boy who had been attacked by the Blackhearted not too long ago and had been transported to ADI headquarters by mistake. On the other side of the room, Jim was working on some sort of small blue device. Squall was in the training hall, practicing in the simulation room against a projection of his rival Seifer. Kite lay in bed staring up at the ceiling thinking about what had happened to everyone else when "The World" had been attacked. Kai, sat in the security room monitoring the status of all the worlds while the seat next to him was occupied by none other than Otaku, himself, which came as a surprise to the Bladebreaker when he came in.

"Nothing yet," said Kai as he pulled his keyboard closer to him and recorded the events that had occurred in the past hour, which was usually filled with all sorts of made-up crap since no one ever usually cared about what was recorded into the security log, but in this case mattered since Otaku was right there in the room.

"I know you guys always talk about how tedious this job is," said Otaku.

"Wouldn't it be better just to automate the whole thing?" asked Kai, which was a point all the ADI staff members tried to make.

"It IS automated. That's why it only needs two people," said Otaku.

Kai sighed.

***

Sparks flew from the portal system in the portal room. Electricity began to crackles as the portal came to life and an evil-looking figure with long white hair dressed in blue jeans, a blue and white striped T-shirt, and an unbuttoned green T-shirt overtop stepped through.

"So this is the ADI headquarters," Yami Bakura said smugly, "Can't say much about the décor. Well, time to get started." And with that, he strapped on his Duel Disk and several Shadows appeared around him. The Millennium Ring glowed brightly around his neck.

***

"He's in," Yami Malik said aloud so that the others could hear him.

"Now we shall see the fall of our rivals," said Cherubimon.

Unbeknownst to Yami Malik, Zirconia, Cherubimon, and Dr. Meda-Evil, Diabolus' stone holders stood by the doorway watching them.

So Bakura made it in, after all," said Zechs, "I give him 2 hours."

__

I give him one, said Mewtwo before turning around and leaving.

"I give him nine minutes," said Riku as he followed Mewtwo.

Meanwhile, the former four were discussing amongst themselves.

"I'm giving him thirty minutes," said Dr. Meda-Evil.

"I'm giving him fifteen," said Zirconia.

"Five," said Cherubimon.

"Fifty-nine seconds," said Yami Malik.

***

"I can't sleep," said Kite. He got out of bed and dressed before opening the door to his quarters and stepping out. Just as he did with the different areas in "The World", he began to explore the entire ADI headquarters.

"I wonder where meals are eaten," the red-clad Twin Blade whispered to himself, so as not to wake anyone up. As he wandered the corridors, he thought he heard a low voice up ahead. Quickly ducking behind a wall, Kite glanced around the corner and saw a white-haired individual walk by.

__

He's up to something, the .Hacker thought to himself. Making a quick decision, he followed. As he did so, he sent a silent alarm message to the security room.

***

"Sir, we've got a Code Three," said Kai.

"Who sent it?" asked Otaku.

"The new guy, Kite," answered Kai, "According to the map of this headquarters, he's in sector 24."

"Get a visual immediately," ordered the leader of the ADI.

Kai quickly switched on the cameras in sector 24 and looked up at the monitors. In one, they saw Kite.

"There he is," said Kai, pointing at monitor five, which showed Yami Bakura walking down the corridor.

"Who else is up at this time?" asked Otaku.

"Just Duero, Jim, and Squall," answered the silver-haired Beyblader.

"Duero and Jim are currently busy with jobs at hand. Send Squall and see if you can wake the rest of the ADI members. If necessary, we'll wake the stone holders," Otaku ordered.

"Yes, sir," said Kai.

***

Sora moaned as he fastened on his belt and put on his jacket.

"I can't believe this," he muttered, "And I was having a good dream, too." He paused for a moment to reflect back on his dream involving him and Kairi, the girl of his dreams, together again. Sighing, he pulled on his gloves, slipped into his shoes, put on his chain and necklace, and grabbed his Keyblade before heading out.

"What's going on?" asked Albert as he approached Sora.

"No idea, but from what I heard it's an intruder alert," answered the Keyblade master.

"Then we better be ready," the blond chef replied as he withdrew his Meal Tickets from his pocket.

***

"Looks like everyone's in bed," Yami Bakura muttered to himself, "With no one to stand in my way, destroying this place will be easy."

"Three problem," a voice called out.

"Who's there?" Yami Bakura demanded, "Show yourself!"

Kite stepped out from behind Bakura. "One, not everyone's in bed," he said as he held his swords ready.

"Two, _we're_ standing in your way," said Kai as he appeared in front of Bakura with his Beyblade aimed right at him.

"And three, no one's going to be destroying this headquarters!" said Squall as he appeared behind Kai with his Gunblade in hand.

"Huh. You're threatening _me_?" Yami Bakura scoffed, "Do you not realize what you are up against? I have the powers of the Blackhearted at my disposal!"

"Exactly what we thought," said Kai.

"Shadows arise!" shouted the spirit of the Millennium Ring. Dark shapes appeared in the darkness and from the walls melded out several Shadows.

"Let it rip!" shouted Kai as he pulled back his ripcord and sent his Dranzer into action.

"Vak Rom!" shouted Kite as he conjured up a tornado of fire up from underneath one of the Shadows.

"Take this!" said Squall as he slashed two of the dark minion simultaneously.

"You can't last forever against the Blackhearted. Soon, your hearts will be infected by their evil. It's useless to fight!" said Yami Bakura.

"Nothing is impossible!" came a new voice as Albert arrived with Sora right behind him.

"Go Spaghettaboutit!" He threw his Meal Ticket forward and it transformed into the yellow-clad giant-fork-carrying spaghetti-headed creature.

"Spaghettaboutit!"

"And he's not the only one who's going to help," said Sora as he held his Keyblade in his hands.

"It's going to take more than that!" said Yami Bakura, "Soldiers!" Upon command, dozens of Blackhearted Soldiers appeared alongside the Shadows. "Take care of them. I must find the core to this place." And with that, he left leaving the five ADI members to take on the dark creatures.

"How many do you think there are?" Kite asked.

"Around twenty-five in total. That's five each," said Squall.

"Try to take out more than that if you can," said Kai, "Go Dranzer!" The blue Beyblade spun towards a Shadow, leapt off the floor and smacked right into the creature's head.

***

"Those fools can't stop me from completing my mission," said Yami Bakura as he continued down the corridors. As he rounded a corner, he was suddenly struck by a thunderbolt. He recovered from the shock and looked around.

"Where did that come from?" he muttered.

"Right over here," said Richie as he stepped out from around another corner. Sparky jumped onto his shoulder and "Pika"-ed.

"You insolent brat! I'll deal with you and your electric rodent later!" said Yami Bakura as he sicked more Shadows on the Pokémon trainer.

***

As the ADI tried to deal with the intruder, Otaku was in his office trying to obtain whatever information he could find on him.

"Got it!" he finally cried, "Bakura Ryou. World of origin: Domino City. Looks like we've got ourselves the world rival of Kaiba." He quickly left his office and went immediately to Kaiba's quarters. Upon his arrival, however, he saw the Duelist had already left.

"Damn, that was fast," the leader of the ADI muttered. He clicked on his wrist com and tuned into Ryo's frequency.

"Akiyama. What is it?" came Ryo's voice.

"He's headed your way," said Otaku, "Be ready."

"Cyberdramon and I are already waiting for him," said Ryo, "If we have to, we'll Matrix Evolve."

"Alright. Make sure he doesn't get to the core," said Otaku.

***

"Ready, Cyberdramon?" the Legendary Tamer asked. His only reply was a snarl.

"I know you're there," Yami Bakura's voice rang out, "Just come out and face me."

"You'd like that, wouldn't you," Ryo muttered, "Go Cyberdramon!"

"ERASE CLAW!" shouted Cyberdramon as he flew out from around the corner and fired a deadly energy beam at Yami Bakura.

"Just as I expected," said the evil Spirit as he withdrew a card from his deck and slapped it onto his Duel Disk, "Waboku!" Three women in blue cloaks suddenly appeared in front of Bakura and took the full force of the attack while leaving him unharmed.

"Damn," muttered Ryo.

"My turn!" said Yami Bakura, "Millennium Warriors, attack!" Right upon his command several white humanoid Blackhearted emerged. Their only feature was the Eye of Anubis right in the center of their heads, making them look somewhat like Ancient Egyptian cyclops.

"Damn," Ryo muttered again. He quickly whipped out his D-Arc and held it out in front of him, "MATRIX EVOLUTION!"

**__**

"Cyberdramon Evolve…JUSTIMON!"

"CRITICAL ARM!" shouted Justimon. His right arm morphed into a metallic rectangular prism tipped with a glowing red energy blade and he dashed over to the Millennium Warriors, slashing them as he passed.

"Now let's get him while we can!" said Ryo. Justimon turned around and saw that Bakura had disappeared.

"Damn, he's gone," said the scarfed Digimon.

"Keep on him," Otaku's voice came through the intercom speaker on the wall next to him.

"We're on it," said Ryo, "Justimon, let's go."

"Right!" the Cyberdramon half of Justimon replied before heading after Bakura.

***

"Duero! Jim!" Status report!" Otaku ordered as he checked up on the two.

"The patient is nearly ready," said the doctor.

"And so's his…" Jim took a look a the object he had been working on, "thing."

"Is the other device finished, Jim?" Otaku asked.

"Yes, it is," the eleven-year-old mechanic replied.

"Then hurry things up. We haven't a lot of time," the ADI leader said before signing out.

***

"With the Millennium Warriors at my disposal, nothing can stand in my way," Yami Bakura thought aloud as he continued down the corridors of the ADI headquarters, "And soon, the ADI will be finished. Once I locate the core, I'll summon my deadliest monsters to destroy it, taking out everyone with it!"

"I don't think so!" Bakura turned around and saw Sora standing behind him. Clutched in his hand was a blue stone.

"Hmph. I admit you got out of that battle faster than I'd anticipated. But you cannot escape this one!" said the evil spirit as several Millennium Warriors launched themselves at the Keyblade Master.

"Give me strength!" shouted Sora as he threw the orb into the air. He caught it in his Keyblade before slamming it into the ground and summoning a giant blue dragon. Pointing his weapon at the cycloptic Blackhearted, he issued the command to attack. The dragon immediately went in and flew past the Millennium Warriors, slashing with its claws in passing.

"What is this?" Yami Bakura gasped.

"Dragoon, attack!" commanded Sora.

"Try my Man-Eater Bug!" said Yami Bakura as he drew a card from his deck and slapped it onto his Duel Disk. The card appeared n their air and instantly transformed into the giant insect. Dragoon swooped in for an attack only to have Man-Eater Bug latch onto it and instantly self-destruct, taking the blue dragon spirit with it.

"Well, that was easy," said Yami Bakura, "I'm surprised you fools have actually been able to put up a fight until now."

"You'd be surprised," said Sora, "FIRE!" Aiming his Keyblade at the evil spirit, a burst of fire shot out form the tip of his weapon and hit the white-haired individual in the shoulder.

"Not bad!" Bakura commented. He quickly turned and ran as more Millennium Warriors attacked Sora.

"Thun…" The Keyblade Master never finished as he was attacked before he could complete the incantation. A few gunshots rang out and Sora turned around and saw Kaze holding a smoking gun in his left hand.

"Tray to aim for the eyes!" said Kai as he entered the scene, "Let it rip!" He pulled the ripcord out of his launcher and sent his Beyblade right at the eye one of the Millennium Warriors. They made contact and the chalk-colored creature vanished.

"We gotta hurry or we'll lose him," said Sora as he jabbed his Keyblade into a Warrior's eye.

"Too late," said Kai, "We already have." Wordlessly, Kaze walked in the direction that Bakura had disappeared in.

***

"What's all the commotion?" Takuya asked yawning as he stepped out of his quarters pulling on his gloves.

"It seems that someone's here," said Rokusho.

"Then I say it's time we helped out," said Trunks.

"Let's go!" said Link as he headed towards the sounds of battle followed by the other three stone holders.

***

"I'm getting there. I can almost sense the power," said Yami Bakura as he walked into a large circular room. The only other door was on the other side and standing between him and it were Li, Meta Knight, and Kaiba.

"You just keep on insisting on getting in my way, don't you? Alright, it will only make my victory sweeter," said the dark spirit.

"Not if I have anything to say about it," said Kaiba as he activated his Duel Disk, "Prepare to be defeated!"

"Heh, exactly what I expected from you, Kaiba," said Yami Bakura, "But if you insist, I'd be more than happy to deliver punishment unto you." Holding up his arms, Shadows, Soldiers, and Millennium Warriors emerged from the shadows.

"Is that all you've got?" Kaiba questioned, "Because if it is, it's not going to be enough."

"But this isn't all I've got," said Yami Bakura, "However, this will be all you get to see!" And with that, he disappeared behind the army of dark creatures.

"Leave these to me," said Kaiba just as Li and Meta Knight were drawing their swords. He extracted one card from his deck and placed it onto his Duel Disk. Instantly, a powerful lightning bolt struck the center of the room and wiped out all the Blackhearted.

"Now that was powerful," said Li, "What was that?"

"It's a card called Raigeki," answered Kaiba, "In a duel, Raigeki eliminates all of your opponent's monsters."

"That's handy," the young warlock replied.

"But now we have lost our target," said Meta Knight as he surveyed the room.

"Then we'll just have to get to _his_ target before he does," said Kaiba.

***

"Any sign of him?" asked Richie, who had been standing guard of the doorway leading to the core of the ADI headquarters all night.

"He's definitely coming this way," answered Kite as Albert arrived with Justimon.

"He's already gotten through our major defenses," said Sora as he approached with Kai.

"Well, this is our last chance to stand up to him," said Squall upon his arrival, "Once he gets past this point, it's all over."

"We can't think like that," said Ryo from within Justimon.

"Ryo's right. No matter what happens, we have to give him everything we've got," said Kai, "Even if we have to risk our lives."

"The fate of all the worlds rides on this battle," Kite added in.

"Someone's coming," Kaze whispered. The ADI staff took up their respective weapons and stood ready. Shadows and Soldiers clambered down the corridors as they approached their destination. Sora tightened his grip around his Keyblade, Richie placed his hands over his Poké Balls, Albert had Crab Quake and Spaghettaboutit on standby, Kaze checked on his Demon Gun, Justimon took up a battle stance, Squall took up his Gunblade and rested it on his shoulder, Kai loaded Dranzer into his launcher and stood ready with one hand gripping the handle and the other on the ripcord, and Kite stood with both of his swords ready for anything.

"Let's go!" shouted Sora as he ran forward followed by Kite. Swinging his Keyblade, the mystical weapon struck all of its targets and destroyed them. Beside him, Kite was slashing with both blades at the Blackhearted.

"STACATTO!" shouted the blue-haired Twin Blade before he started slashing wildly on a single Millennium Warrior.

Meanwhile, Squall was down another corridor defending the core entrance from more Blackhearted.

"There's sure a lot of them!" he said as he decapitated two Soldiers simultaneously.

"Well we gotta keep them from getting inside," said Richie, "Zippo, use your Flamethrower!" He threw one of his Poké Balls forward and his Charmeleon appeared. Zippo muttered a low "char" before opening its mouth and unleashing a powerful stream of flames down a third corridor.

"You're doing quite impressively," said Yami Bakura as he approached from the middle corridor, "But let's see if that will be enough when I unleash a monster attack! Meet my Headless Knight!" Slapping a card down onto his Duel Disk, a knight clad in silver armor and a cape armed with a sword and a shield appeared. However, there seemed to be nothing resting on its shoulders.

"This can't be good," muttered Kai.

"But it only gets worse," said Yami Bakura, "Headless Knight, cut them down to size!" The Fiend-type monster acknowledged its master's order and rushed towards the ADI forces. Raising its sword over its head, it brought it down on its nearest target, Kite, when Squall blocked it with his Gunblade.

"Thanks," said the .hacker.

"Don't mention it," the Gunblade wielder replied.

"You can't last for very long against my onslaught," said Yami Bakura, "Now watch me as I summon Sangan!" Placing another card onto his Duel Disk, a brown three-eyed furball with sharp claws appeared.

"You expect us to be afraid of that thing?" Squall scoffed.

"You won't be so confident once you see what I'm about to do with it," said the evil Duelist, "For I now sacrifice it for a more powerful monster: The Earl of Demise!" At once, Sangan dissolved into nothingness as a green-skinned creature dressed in a red waistcoat and armed with a rapier appeared in its place.

"And, Sangan allowed me to draw one monster from my deck with an attack of 1500 or less upon discarding it from the field to the Graveyard," added Yami Bakura. Removing his deck from his Duel Disk, he fanned it out and selected a card before reshuffling the rest and putting them back into place.

"He's summoning another one," muttered Kai.

"How right you are! Meet The Portrait's Secret!" A framed painting appeared in the air in front of Bakura only to have a fiend monster emerge from it and join his already-powerful Earl of Demise on the battlefield.

"Things are getting ugly here," said Richie from the back.

"And it will only keep on getting uglier for you," said Yami Bakura, "Now let's see how you'll react when I add my Souls of the Forgotten and The Gross Ghost of Fled Dreams to my forces!" He placed the cards on his Duel Disk the collection of dark ghosts appeared among his monsters, as well as a bed from which a ghost rose up from the head of the person sleeping in it.

"That's a lot of monsters," said Albert.

"Actually, it's only five," Kai corrected, "But you're right about one thing. How can we defeat them all?"

"You can't!" said Yami Bakura. A flash of red suddenly struck his Gross Ghost of Fled Dreams, Portrait's Secret, and Souls of the Forgotten, destroying them.

"What was that?" asked Sora.

"Just a little something, or rather someone, that just came out of recovery," said Jim as he and Duero stepped forward. Behind them was a boy about eleven years of age with black and white hair and blue eyes wearing a black shirt with a yellow collar and bottom seam, a red vest, black shoes, and camouflage pants. In his hand was some sort of device with a red covering, which was open at the moment. On the lower center of the covering was some sort of symbol, which was a black and white circle, both colors separated by a small zigzag.

"Who is he?" Kite asked.

"Just call me Chaud," said the boy, "ProtoMan, are you ready?"

"Of course," said ProtoMan. He was a fairly tall figure wearing a black and purple bodysuit, as well as red boots, gloves, and armor. Long silver hair flowed out from underneath a red helmet sporting a black sunglasses-like visor and a horn in the front center. His right hand, unlike his left however, was a blazing pinkish-red beam sword.

"What's with the thing on his waist?" asked Kai.

"ProtoMan is what Chaud calls his 'NetNavi'," Jim explained, "They can only be used inside computers and not out here in real life. However, that device on Chaud's waist lets him jack in his PET, which is that object in his hand, allowing him to use his ProtoMan out here. I call it a Life Projection Unit, or LPU for short."

(A/N: I own the LPU, as well.)

"I don't care what it's called! I can and will destroy you all!" said Yami Bakura as he drew another card from his deck.

"Easier said than done," said Chaud, "But by all means, try."

"Don't worry. I intend to finish the job," said Yami Bakura. But then a grin crept onto his face. "But I thank you for vanquishing those monsters for me."

"Hmm? What does he mean by that?" wondered the NetBattler.

"Be ready for anything," said Kai.

"Thanks to you, I can now call forth my strongest monster!" said Yami Bakura, "I shall now remove Souls of the Forgotten, The Portrait's Secret, and Sangan from my graveyard in order to summon Dark Necrofear!" He placed his card onto the surface of his Duel Disk and the blue-skinned doll-carrying monster appeared between The Earl of Demise and Headless Knight, its body radiating with a dark aura.

"What in the world is that?" asked Kite.

"It's his rarest card," said Kaiba as he approached, "Dark Necrofear."

"Correct," said Yami Bakura, "And now you'll see what power truly lies within my deck!" He drew yet another card and looked at it.

__

I can use this later, thought the Duelist as he placed it with the rest of the cards in his hand and pulled out another.

"And just to ensure my victory, I activate this card: Ouija Board!" announced Yami Bakura. He placed the card into his leftmost Magic/Trap Card slot and the board appeared over his head.

(A/N: I know it's called Destiny Board in the dub, but I prefer the original name & message)

"What does that card do?" asked Sora.

"In a duel, Ouija Board will slowly spell the word DEATH over the course of five turns," answered Kaiba.

"Correct. But since this isn't a duel, but rather a battle, the powers of the Blackhearted have allowed me to form the message within five _minutes_," said Yami Bakura.

"Five minutes?! That doesn't give us a whole lot of time to stop this guy!" Richie exclaimed.

"Then we'll make it," said Kaiba.

"I'd say it's hopeless for you," said Yami Bakura, "Now stand aside as I make my way to the core!" Slapping down his Man-Eater Bug onto his Duel Disk, the Insect-type monster appeared and immediately latched itself onto the blast doors that separated the corridor from the ADI headquarters' core chamber.

"It's going to explode!" Kaiba shouted. And explode it did, taking down the door with it.

"Note to self: reinforce doors," Ryo said from within Justimon.

"And just to add some extra firepower for your destruction, I'll sacrifice my Headless Knight in order to summon Dark Ruler Hades!" Yami Bakura removed the 1450-attack monster from his Duel Disk and replaced it with the menacing 2400-attack fiend. "Now I shall advance into the core chamber!" With his three monsters in front of him, the evil spirit walked forward through the blasted-down doors into a large dimly lit circular room. In the center was a massive machine composed of two parts, one attached the ceiling and the other bolted down to the floor. In between the two was a giant glowing blue sphere.

"He's made it," said Sora.

"Well we're not going to let him destroy it! LET IT RIP!" shouted Kai. He pulled back his ripcord and his Beyblade flew out of its launcher and headed straight towards Bakura.

"A fat lot that will do you!" Yami Bakura taunted. The Beyblade suddenly leapt off the floor and flew straight up towards the white-haired Duelist's face.

"What?!" He dodged to the side, but just barely. Kai's Beyblade was able to leave a cut on his left cheek before landing behind him.

"A fat lot indeed," Kai said with a smirk. Holding out his hand, his Beyblade zigzagged across the floor and jumped back into its owner's palm.

"Insolent pest. No matter, for soon I shall destroy this entire headquarters! Dark Necrofear! Dark Ruler Hades! Earl of Demise! Strike the core with your deadliest assaults!" Yami Bakura shouted.

"Happy! Kruz! Help Zippo stop them!" Richie commanded as he threw two Pokéballs and from them emerged his Butterfree and Pupitar, respectively.

"We're all in this together!" yelled Kite as he ran to join the frontlines.

"We'll work as a team!" Sora concurred as he shouldered his Keyblade and stood with Richie and Kite between Bakura's monsters and the core.

"ProtoMan."

"Understood." ProtoMan leapt over Yami Bakura's head and landed in front of the Earl of Demise.

"Don't forget about us," said Justimon.

"Or us," Albert chimed in, "Go Crab Quake!" Throwing out another Meal Ticket, he summoned his massive red cannon-studded crustacean.

"There's no one better suited for this battle than I am," said Kaiba, "I place Lord of Dragons onto the field and activate The Flute of Summoning Dragon in order to summon two of my Blue-Eyes White Dragons." Placing the said cards onto his Duel Disk, first the dragon armor-clad spellcaster appeared, followed by the dragon-shaped horn, and then the two massive dragons.

"Your persistence is admirable, but it cannot save you! Blackhearted arise!" shouted Yami Bakura. Raising his arms over his head, several Millennium Warriors, Shadows, Soldiers, and a new type of Blackhearted emerged from the darkness. The newest minions were dressed in black flight suits and equipped with clawed gloves, wings, red scarves, and World War I flight helmets.

"What are those?" Li asked with a raised eyebrow.

"These are one of the newest types of Blackhearted," Yami Bakura explained, "We call them Air Raiders."

"We don't care what you call them. We're going to defeat you and your Blackhearted minions and defend this base with everything we've got!" said Sora.

"Then prepare to die!" said Yami Bakura as the letter E appeared to the right of his D, "ATTACK!" Holding his hand forward, his battalion of Duel Monsters and Blackhearted launched themselves forward.

"Let's go!" shouted Kite as he, Sora, and anyone else with close-range weapons ran towards the oncoming evil creatures, slashing at every chance they had.

"Happy, use Whirlwind to blow them away from the core!" Richie ordered.

"Freeeee!" Happy answered as it flapped its wings vigorously, conjuring up a powerful wind. An Air Raider suddenly flew in and slashed the Butterfree across the chest.

"Happy!" Richie cried.

"Heh, the Air Raiders were designed to fly against strong winds, making them one of the deadliest Blackhearted ever to exist," Yami Bakura said with a smirk.

"Then let's see how they stand up to this! FORCE!" Casting Graviga, Sora formed a black sphere over the Air Raiders, which forced them down to the floor followed by Meta Knight slashing them all with his sword until they disintegrated into thin air.

"Kruz, Tackle attack!" Richie commanded.

"Pupitar!" Kruz shot forward and struck several Soldiers in the Blackhearted insignia in passing.

"There's still too many of them!" said Kai.

"Just keep fighting! ACCEL. ARM!" shouted Justimon.

"BRAHMA SUTRA!" Several fireballs suddenly flew into the chamber and struck down several of the Blackhearted as Ardhamon flew in.

"Sorry I'm late," said the A-Hybrid Digimon, "Looks like I made it in time."

"It's not over yet!" said Kaiba as he summoned one of his Blue-Eyes White Dragons, "Blue-Eyes White Dragon, destroy Bakura's Earl of Demise with White Lightning!" The winged behemoth let out a mighty roar before unleashing a powerful blast from its mouth, taking out the 2000-attack monster.

"Not bad, but you still cannot win," said Yami Bakura as an A appeared to the right of his E.

"ProtoMan, get in there," Chaud ordered.

"Right away." The silver-haired NetNavi ran towards a group of Millennium Warriors and swung his sword as he passed between them, destroying all of his targets at once.

__

They're doing better than I first thought, Yami Bakura thought, _No matter, I will still be victorious!_

"We've only got two minutes left to finish this battle. We have got to hurry!" said Li.

"There is no escape! ATTACK!" Bakura's monsters and his battalion of Blackhearted minions converged on the ADI members and four stone holders, who braced themselves for impact.

A blur suddenly rushed into the room and deflected all the attacks right back at their sources, taking out the Air Raiders, Shadows, Soldiers, and Millennium Warriors, as well as the two remaining Duel Monsters on the field.

"OTAKU!" The ADI members were relieved to see their leader down on one knee with his arm extended out to the side. In his hand on the same arm was a sword with a brilliant red hilt, a blade glowing a gentle orange, and a long tassel made of phoenix feathers trailing from the end of the hilt.

"Sir, are you alright?" Squall asked.

"I'm fine," the ADI leader replied as he stood up.

"I see you decided to use the Phoenix Blade, sir," Kai observed.

"The Dragon Sword is much too powerful to be used in here," Otaku explained, "Now, what say we finish this battle."

"Let's," said Chaud, "WideSword Battlechip in, download!" He entered the Battlechip into the slot at the top of his PET and the WideSword appeared on ProtoMan's left arm while keeping the sword on his right intact.

"Swordstalker!" Kaiba slapped the monster onto his Duel Disk and the sword-wielding monster appeared.

"Do you all really think you stand a chance?" asked Yami Bakura, "Look. My message is nearly complete." And indeed, it was true as a T appeared next to the A, spelling D-E-A-T.

"We can and we will," said Otaku, "Attack!"

"Take this!" shouted Squall, "ROUGH DIVIDE!" Leaping up, he slashed once at Dark Necrofear once with his Gunblade, and brought it back down on it upon landing, destroying it.

"Swordstalker and Blue-Eyes, go!" ordered Kaiba. His mighty dragon opened its gaping maw and unleashed a powerful attack at Dark Ruler Hades, obliterating it. Swordstalker moved in next and delivered a powerful blow from its sword at Yami Bakura.

"Damn you, Kaiba!" the white-haired Duelist growled as he grabbed his shoulder. No soon had he spoken, Sora flashed right by him slashing with his Keyblade in passing followed closely by Meta Knight.

"Our turn!" said Ryo. Justimon held out his right arm and it transformed into his blade arm.

"CRITICAL ARM!" The glowing red energy blade burned through skin and tissue as it cleaved its way through Bakura's flesh. Otaku went next and slashed Bakura with the Phoenix Blade, spilling the Duelist's blood onto the floor. Kite followed and his blades went deep into his body.

"Let's end this," said Chaud, "LongSword Battlechip in, download!" ProtoMan, who had been holding his swords at his sides, brought them both in front of his chest and then over his head. His Sword and Wide Sword glowed brightly as, with the power of the LongSword, fused together. His hands returned to normal as a massive sword made of pure energy erupted over him.

"Go, Program Advance!" Chaud ordered.

"BETA SWORD!" ProtoMan grasped the hilt of the Program Advance and, with all his strength, brought it down forward and sent the blade streaking towards Yami Bakura.

"No, this can't be!" the Duelist exclaimed wide-eyed. The Beta Sword struck him with full force and he screamed out in agony as he was engulfed by the brilliant light.

__

That should've finished him off, ProtoMan thought as the blinding radiance reflected off his visor. The light died down in time and no sign of Yami Bakura was seen.

"It looks like we got him," said Squall. A clang echoes through the chamber as the Millennium Ring clattered to the floor. The ancient relic split into two pieces and finally came to rest. Otaku walked over and picked up the two halves of the golden item.

"I'm sensing a dark presence leaving this object," he said coolly, "The presence of Blackhearted influence."

"At least it's over. Now we can go back to dealing with the Blackhearted in other worlds," said Ryo after he and Cyberdramon split from Justimon.

"Yeah," Richie said with a nod. A loud explosion suddenly erupted from somewhere else in the base.

"What the…" Kaiba began.

"It came from the transporter room!" Sora shouted.

***

Fires burned fiercely in the transporter room as equipment exploded and consoles erupted into flames. A single man stood amidst the destruction. Shrouded in a long black coat, he swung his insanely long sword at several computers, leaving a large gash in them before they exploded. His long white hair whipped around him as the door to the room opened and all the ADI staff and stone holders entered.

"Look at all the damage!" Richie gaped as he stared at the scene.

"Who the hell are you?!" Jim asked. The man slowly turned around and faced them. Everybody gasped. Around his neck on a silver chain was a crystal a chaotic mix of constantly-shifting black and red.

"It's the sixteen stone holder!" Albert exclaimed.

"And that's the Stone of Chaos!" said Otaku.

"Just who are you?" Takuya demanded. The man did not reply. He simply held out his sword and with one stroke, destroyed the transport gate.

"He destroyed the gate!" Jim ran over to the controls to try to fix whatever he could, but to no avail.

But the man was not finished. Holding his sword under his arm, he muttered something and a second later, several bolts of lightning rained down and struck the rest of the equipment, completely decimating the transporter room.

"That does it!" said Takuya, "We're gonna get you…" Takuya never got to finish his sentence as the man swung his sword and sent him and the rest of the ADI backwards injured.

"My work here is done," he said softly as he turned to leave.

"Wait!" Takuya called out as he crawled forward along the floor, "Just who _are_ you?" the man stopped in his tracks, turned his head, and looked down at Takuya.

"Sephiroth." And with that, he disappeared through a dark portal.

**__**

TO BE CONTINUED…

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NEXT TIME:

Without a transport gate, the ADI stone holders have no way to reach other worlds. While they try to figure out this problem, more arise in other worlds as the number of Blackhearted attacks increase thousandfold per minute. Will the ADI find alternate means of interdimensional transportation before all the worlds are destroyed at the hands of the Blackhearted?

***********************************************************************************************************************

At last, the Warrior of Chaos has finally been revealed! Yeah folks, it's Sephiroth, the main villain from _Final Fantasy VII_ and by far my number one favorite anime character.

Please review, folks.


	11. Gumming Along

****

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the anime series, games, or Japanese classics involved.

I do, however, own the Blackhearted, the ADI, Otaku, and Lord Diabolus.

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****

UNITED WE STAND AS ONE

Gumming Along

"I still can't believe the Blackhearted were actually able to infiltrate our base and attack from within," said Takuya as he and a few other stone holders and ADI staff doused the controls of the transporter room with CO2 fire extinguishers.

"Not to mention that while we're stuck here they could be doing anything to the worlds out there," Daigo added.

"Ugh, don't remind me right now," said Kai as his extinguisher sputtered and ceased functioning. Tossing it into the large pile of used extinguishers, he grabbed a new one from the large bin that had been wheeled in and continued working.

"I still find it almost hard to believe who the bearer of the Chaos Stone was," Squall tossed in.

"Sephiroth," Takuya muttered, "the most powerful enemy of all the Final Fantasy games."

"You've played them too, huh?" Kai asked.

"I never imagined you to be the type to play video games."

"People need to have fun from time to time."

"I see your point." Takuya tossed out his fire extinguisher and went to get another one only to find out that Kai had used the last one in the bin.

"More here," said Richie as he entered bearing a cart full of new extinguishers.

"About time. We just ran out," Squall said.

ooo

While fires were being put out in the transporter room, the others were doing whatever they could to repair the damage Sephiroth and Yami Bakura had inflicted on the base.

"That Man-Eater Bug was one nasty time bomb," Trunks commented as he examined the fragments created by Bakura's monster after it had latched itself onto the doors and blown itself into oblivion, taking the doors with it.

"Sephiroth's done his fair share of damage, as well," Ashitaka added as he examined the deep gashes left in the wall by Sephiroth's masamune.

"What I'd like to know is where Kite, Jim, and Sora are," Ryo said.

ooo

"So the transporter's completely out of commission?" Otaku asked as he looked at the three ADI officials who were standing in front of his desk.

"Destroyed," said Jim, "There's nothing we can do about it."

"So what are you planning to do about it?" the leader of the ADI questioned.

"Jim and I have been working on something for just such and emergency," said Sora. Otaku turned to the Keyblade master and cocked an eyebrow.

"Really?"

"We didn't tell you because we haven't completed the project. We've only got about 80% of it finished," said Jim.

"Well, you might as well tell the others anyway. And finish it ASAP," Otaku ordered.

"Yes, sir," said Jim.

"Uh, I hope you don't mind me asking but why is Kite here?" Sora asked.

"Well Kite thinks he might have the solution to creating a new transporter," said Otaku.

"It's all right here," the blue-haired Twin Blade said as he took out a book. He opened the cover and a hologram of a spinning circular portal appeared. "It's called a Chaos Gate. In 'The World', they're used on every server to access different areas."

"By modifying the Chaos Gate's program, we can use it to access different worlds in much the same way Kite claims one can access areas in his world," said Jim.

"I see," said Otaku as he leaned back in his chair, "And approximately when do you believe you will be finished by?"

"Next Tuesday," Kite answered.

"Alright. Until we can get the Chaos Gate up and running, I want everyone to use the backup transport system for inter-world travelling," Otaku ordered.

"Yes, sir!" the three ADI staff members chorused.

"By the way," Otaku added, "what exactly _is_ the backup transport system?"

ooo

"What do you suppose this is about?" Rokusho inquired as he and all the stone holders followed Ryo down the corridor.

"Something about an alternate mode of interworld transportation," the Legendary Tamer answered. They reached a sealed door and Ryo input a code, which gained him and the stone holders access to what lay inside. On entering, everybody's gaze fell upon a series of odd-looking ships.

"What are these?" Ashitaka questioned.

"They're Gummi Ships," replied Sora as he slid down a ladder on the side of the wall and landed on the platform, "We used to use them to fight against the Heartless."

"Sora, wasn't it just you who did that?" Ryo asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Whatever. Anyway, you guys will need to learn how to pilot these things. We can start as soon as we've finished construction," Sora finished, "Any questions?"

"How long until they're finished?" asked Li. Sora turned around and looked down at the Gummi ships below.

"At least two hours," he replied.

ooo

Takuya was sitting cross-legged on his bed in his quarters reading a copy of _Gummi Ship Flying for Dummies_. Right after the visit to the Gummi garage, Ryo had taken the stone holders to the library where he gave out copies of various manuals and "How To" books regarding piloting a Gummi Ship. The bearer of the Pyro Stone flipped through the pages carefully, reading every single word trying not to miss a single thing. It wasn't just because he thought the Gummi Ships were cool; it was also because he knew that they were his only hope to finding and helping his friends. Many of the other stone holders were also reading their books, but some decided to train for the upcoming battles that would ensue.

ooo

Yami Malik knelt before the ominous silhouette of Diabolus with Zirconia, Dr. Meda-Evil, and Cherubimon on either side of him.

"Lord Diabolus, the task has been completed. The ADI's only means of interworld transportation has been destroyed," the ancient spirit reported.

"I am aware of that," the dark overlord replied, "for it was I who sent the one that destroyed it."

"The Warrior of Chaos," Yami Malik muttered.

"Return to your duties, the four of you," Lord Diabolus ordered. The four villains bowed before rising to their feet and leaving the chamber.

"You may approach." Riku stepped out from the shadows and walked towards the intense flames that displayed the demon's image.

"You knew all along, didn't you?" he asked with a slight accusatory tone in his voice.

"Indeed," replied Diabolus, "The Chaos Stone is, by far, the most powerful stone of all. Its legendary powers are very real and only one of equal power if not greater can bear it." Having said his piece, the demon disappeared and the flames returned to normal.

"We'll see," said Riku before he turned and walked out.

ooo

The stone holders sat around inside the Gummi training room awaiting the results of their simulator tests.

"Well, most of you have done fairly good," said Sora, "However, some of you aren't quite cut out for the job. Anyway, let's get you guys on board. We've just received word of four new Blackhearted attacks." Sora led everyone down to the Gummi garage, where four completed ships sat awaiting departure. Squall was already there waiting along with Otaku.

"Stone holders, keep in mind that this method of transportation is only temporary. It's extremely dangerous in interworld space," the leader of the ADI said, "You mustn't let your guard down at any time. Now, Sora and Squall will assign you to your ships."

"Before you guys go, take these." Sora reached into his pocket and produced four Summon Gems. He gave a fiery orange one to Takuya, an electric-yellow one to Ami, a steel-grey one to Rokusho, and an icy-blue one to Ashitaka.

"Now, time to get you to your ships," said Squall. In the end, Takuya, Kaiba, and Meta Knight were on one ship. Daigo, Rokusho, and Li occupied another one. Ami, Yomiko, and Shinji sat in the third ship. The last was occupied by Trunks, Link, and Ashitaka. After checking to see that everyone was in place, Squall headed up to the control tower where Jim was standing by while Sora remained on the hangar floor with two glowing tubes in his hands. (A/N: The ones they use at airports to direct air traffic on the tarmac. I forgot what they're called.)

"All systems ready," said Jim, "_Highwind_, _Valefor_, _Eden_, and _Sylvia_ ready for launch. Proceed to the launch bays."

"Roger," Sora answered into the headset he was wearing. He directed the Gummi Ships over to four of the launch pads. Takuya, who was sitting in the pilot's seat of the _Highwind_, took in a sharp breath and eased forward. The ship hummed softly as it moved towards the indicated launch pad. Daigo, who had experience flying GUTS Fighters, taxied the _Sylvia_ into place. Shinji was a nervous wreck as he moved the _Eden_ to launch pad three and Trunks seemed to have no trouble getting the _Valefor_ in place.

"The Gummis are in place," Sora said into his headset.

"Roger. Preparing for launch," Jim replied, "Launch shaft is clear. _Highwind_, you are clear for take-off." The engines on the _Highwind_ roared to life and the ship shot forward into interworld space.

"_Highwind_ has left. _Valefor_ clear for take-off," Sora reported.

"Roger, Sora. _Valefor_, launch!" Jim pressed a button on his console, giving Trunks the green light. The Z-Fighter started the engines and the ship shot forward.

"_Valefor_ has launched. _Eden_ ready for take-off," said Sora.

"Understood. _Eden_ launch." Jim gave Shinji the okay and the young Eva pilot flew the ship out.

"_Eden_'s launch was successful. _Sylvia_ standing by."

"_Sylvia_ clear for launch." In time, the last of the four Gummi ships had taken off, leaving the Gummi garage empty.

"Well, there they go," said Sora.

"You do realize they'll end up getting to the worlds a little later now," said Jim as he came up to Sora.

It's better than them not getting there," the Keyblade master replied, "Besides, we gave them basic training. What could go wrong?"

ooo

"He said to go left!" Kaiba shouted.

"Well when I asked you if I should turn left, you said right!" Takuya argued back.

"I meant right as in correct!"

__

This will be a very long flight, Meta Knight thought to himself.

ooo

"We're approaching our destination," Trunks announced, "Our target area is a large forest region." The _Valefor_ flew down and zipped past several treetops before finally making a landing.

"I know this forest," said Ashitaka, "This is my world."

"Somehow I think Otaku planned this intentionally," said Trunks.

"Since this is your world, Ashitaka," said Link, "where do you say we go to now?" Ashitaka thought for a moment and then spoke.

"Iron Town," he replied. Trunks and Link nodded in agreement before Ashitaka led them through the forest towards the said destination. Before long, they had arrived at a large lake with a wooden fort built next to it. Smoke could be seen rising from the center of the structure.

"It's under attack!" exclaimed Link as he drew his sword.

"Don't worry. That smoke is just from the manufacturing of iron," explained Ashitaka.

"Well unless hundreds of little black creatures roaming around the area is part of the process, I say we should go now," said Trunks after observing several Blackhearted surrounding the factory. The tree of them quickly ran towards Iron Town as quickly as they could. Before they could reach the gate, though, several Air Raiders appeared and began attacking the stone holders. Ashitaka was the first to act. He quickly loaded an arrow into his bow and fired. The arrow sailed through the air and impaled three of the flying Blackhearted. Meanwhile on the ground, Soldiers had just arisen and Link was taking his Master Sword to them. Trunks flew up and began smashing his fists into any Air Raiders that came towards him.

"There's still too many of them!" shouted Ashitaka.

"Let's try the summon gem!" Trunks suggested.

"I've got it!" Link took out the summon gem and held it up. The crystalline sphere began to emit an icy-blue glow and a frigid gust of wind blew by. A large glacier rose up from the ground. Inside, the stone holders could just make out the form of a woman. Suddenly, her eyes opened and the glacier shattered. Her light-blue skin glistened like ice as she got up and shook out any snow from her sapphire-blue hair, all while wearing almost nothing at all. She was Shiva, the goddess of ice.

"Shiva, defeat these Blackhearted!" Link commanded. Obeying, Shiva dashed towards one of the Soldiers and delivered a kick to its chest, destroying it immediately. She then held out her hands and cast several ice spells, destroying even more Blackhearted. Immediately, she pointed one finger towards the sky and a large piece of ice dropped down and crushed the remaining minions.

"Let's go!" Trunks called. Accompanied by the newest summon creature, the three stone holders pushed the gates of Iron Town open and went inside only to be stopped by a Dark Armor like the one they had faced in Reedington.

"Shiva," Link turned to the ice queen, "Diamond Dust."

Shiva nodded her acknowledgement and stepped forward. She raised her arms over her head and spun around. Her movements sent a chilling wind at the giant suit of floating armor, forming frost all over it. Her hands began to glow with a mystical ball of energy, which she drew back before thrusting it in front of her. The energy ball sent forth a freezing beam, which struck Dark Armor and trapped it within a solid block of ice. Shiva admired her handiwork for a moment before raises her hand and then snapping her arm back down. The ice prison shattered and Dark Armor instantly fell to pieces.

"Let's go!" said Ashitaka as the three swordsmen moved forward while Shiva disappeared in a blizzard of ice. They hurried into Iron Town and found several of the workers dead from the Blackhearted onslaught.

"It's a downright massacre," said Trunks as he surveyed the area.

"Isn't there anyone that's still alive here?" Link asked. Ashitaka walked over to one of the bodies and checked it over.

"These men weren't just slaughtered," he said, "They were poisoned."

"Poisoned? By what?" asked Trunks. As if to answer his question, a massive leg appeared on the side of Iron Town's wall and a gargantuan black spider flipped over it and roared. Emblazoned on its abdomen was the Blackhearted insignia overlapping a red hourglass.

"A Black Widow!" Trunks exclaimed. The gigantic arachnid roared as leapt off the wall and landed in the center of the iron refinery. It spun around and turned to face the three swordsmen.

"Can we defeat it?" asked Ashitaka.

"There's only one way to find out," said Link. Holding his shield out in front of him, he brought back his sword and waited. The massive spider charged towards the Hero of Time at full speed. The moment it came within striking range, Link unleashed a Spin Slash that knocked back the Black Widow. Ashitaka quickly followed up by firing several arrows into the giant spider's hide. Then Trunks flew in and severed its legs with his sword. He landed on the other side of Iron Town and re-sheathed his sword as the behemoth fell to the ground.

"That takes care of that," said the half-Saiyan warrior.

"It seemed too easy," said Link.

Suddenly, the Black Widow twitched and new legs sprung out from its body while the dismembered limbs transformed into smaller versions of the Blackhearted arachnid.

"Split up!" said Trunks. Ashitaka and Link nodded and the three stone holders went off in separate directions. A Mini-Widow leapt up at Trunks and bared its fangs, but the Z-Fighter kicked it away. A second one shot webbing from its abdomen Link. However, the Hylian hero jumped to the side and shot an arrow at the minion. Ashitaka chopped down the Mini-Widows one-by-one with his sword as they leapt up at him. Eventually, all the smaller spiders had been vanquished, leaving only the original Black Widow.

"Okay, let's make it a rule not to sever off parts of its body," said Trunks.

"Agreed," said Link, "which means that we'll have to kill it with one strike."

"I call upon Pegasus!" Trunks' Lunar Stone started to glow and the Spirit of Moon from within emerge and neighed. The winged horse flew as high as it could go and then came charging down onto the Black Widow with everything it had. The spider reared back and roared as the spirit struck its target. Pegasus then reared up on its hind legs as hits horn began to glow. It neighed loudly and swung its head forward, casting down a large orb of gravity energy onto the Black Widow. Its task complete, Pegasus returned to the Lunar Stone.

"Looks like it didn't do much," said Link.

"I'm going to try something else," said Trunks. He thrust his hands out in front of him and then moved them around rapidly and repositioned them in front of his body.

"Burning Attack!" A powerful energy blast shot out of Trunks' hands and blasted a hole through the center of the Black Widow's abdomen. The massive spider roared and shook it off like it was nothing.

"Even with a portion of its body gone, it still lives!" Ashitaka exclaimed.

"Ashitaka," said Link, "Your stone his glowing." Ashitaka took the Spirit Stone out from under his shirt and looked at it. It was, indeed, glowing.

"This presence I'm feeling seems familiar," said Ashitaka. A brilliant light shone out from the Spirit Stone and from it emerged the spirit of a large white wolf.

"The spirit of the Spirit Stone is a wolf!" Trunks exclaimed.

"That's not just any wolf," said Ashitaka, "It's Moro!" And indeed it was. The wolf spirit of the forest had been transformed into the spirit dwelling within the Spirit Stone. Moro raised her head into the air and let out a long howl before she pounced on the Black Widow. The spirit and the Blackhearted rolled along the ground as they fought.

"Quickly! We need to assist the spirit," said Link.

"I brought along a second summon gem for emergencies," said Trunks, "Dragoon!" The half-Saiyan held the blue crystalline sphere over his head and it shone brightly as the majestic blue dragon emerged from it. Dragoon let out a mighty roar before flying in and slashing the Black Widow with its claws while Moro tore into its hide with her fangs.

"It's time to finish this!" said Ashitaka. Gripping his sword in both hands, he charged forward holding his blade next to his chest. With both Moro and Dragoon restraining the Black Widow, the Blackhearted monster was wide open to attack. As soon as he came within range, Ashitaka thrust his sword forward and plunged the blade into the spider's underside. The Black Widow twitched violently and roared as its body slowly dissipated into darkness until nothing was left. The moment the last remnant of the dark arachnid had disappeared, the Blackhearted in the rest of the forest suddenly disappeared. Ashitaka stood up straight and walked over to where Moro stood.

"Thank you," he said. Moro bowed her head before returning to the Spirit Stone and Dragoon returned to its summon gem. Re-sheathing his sword, Trunks pulled out a communications device Ryo had given him and switched it on.

"Trunks to ADI headquarters, mission accomplished," he said.

ooo

Daigo, Rokusho and Li stood atop a tall hill overlooking Riverview. The entire city was overrun by Blackhearted, as well as members of the Rubberobo gang.

"What a mess," said Li.

"So, this is what has happened to my hometown," said Rokusho.

ooo

Elsewhere, Shinji, Ami, and Yomiko stood amidst the ruins of the city that had once been Tokyo. All that remained was a large black spiked tower and a dark cloud overhanging above the city.

"There's a lot of negative energy here," said Ami as she scanned the area.

"Oh, I don't like the looks of this," said Yomiko as she held up a few sheets of paper while Shinji just hung near the _Eden_.

ooo

Takuya looked on in horror at what remained of the Digital World. Areas where there had once been land were now occupied by massive canyons as a result of data absorption. Blackhearted roamed everywhere and occasionally they would be seen chasing a random Digimon across the barren land.

"The state of this world is terrible," said Meta Knight.

"I just hope my friends are alright," said Takuya as he recalled the day he had become the bearer of the Pyro Stone of Fire.

"It's no use staying here wondering and hoping," said Kaiba, "Let's go. The sooner we finish this, the sooner we can leave." The CEO of Kaiba Corp walked past the other two stone holders and proceeded through the wasteland.

"He is right," said Meta Knight, "If you are concerned about your friends, you must go and save them."

"You're right," said Takuya. He pulled the Pyro Stone out from under his shirt and looked into its fiery red structure. He hopped off the hood of the _Highwind_ and ran after Kaiba with Meta Knight right behind him.

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NEXT TIME:

Takuya must face the fallen Great Angel, Cherubimon in order to save his friends. But is it too late already? And what will happen when one of those friends is turned against him? The fate of the entire Digital World rests with Takuya and the Pyro Stone of Fire.

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And there you have it. Please remember to drop off your reviews in the review box on your way out.


	12. Digital World Disaster!

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Disclaimer: All official anime characters are property of their respective companies.

****

To Rian:

1. I haven't planned that far yet.

2. Yomiko's world was dealt with in chapter 6.

3. Not likely.

4. Yes, I'm drawing out my designs for the Blackhearted, as well as any summons I may include that are exclusive to this fanfic.

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****

UNITED WE STAND AS ONE

Digital World Disaster

"The Warrior of Fire has finally returned," said Cherubimon as he watched Takuya, Meta Knight, and Kaiba from his castle under the Rose Morning Star, "He will undoubtedly come after his friends and then attempt to eliminate me. However, he will have to pass my hordes of Blackhearted minions, first." The Great Angel snapped his fingers and several black creatures appeared on the floor around him. He then showed them the image of the three stone holders.

"Find them," he ordered, "And when you have, destroy them." The creatures seemed to nod before they disappeared into the floor and dispersed from the castle.

ooo

"Do you think in hindsight that it was a bad idea to leave the _Highwind_ behind?" asked Meta Knight.

"Too late to turn back and get it now," said Kaiba. He, Meta Knight, and Takuya were seated in one of the train coaches being pulled by the Trailmon Worm.

"I wonder if everyone is alright?" Takuya thought out loud as he stared out the window.

"Based on our past trips into other worlds, it would seem likely," answered Meta Knight, "The Blackhearted clearly want our stones. In order to obtain yours, they would have to lure you in. And in doing so, they plan to use your friends as bait."

"Now that you mention it, hasn't just about everyone had someone close to them trapped by the Blackhearted when we went to their respective worlds?" asked Takuya, "Kaiba, when we went to your world, they had your brother held hostage."

"That's correct," said Kaiba.

"And Li had to save Sakura and Daigo had to rescue Rena," added Meta Knight.

"So my friends are alright, then. Alright, no more worrying. I've got to prepare for this fight!" As Takuya returned to his seat, the train suddenly jerked to a stop and he was thrown against the front of the car.

"What's wrong?" Kaiba asked.

"Black creatures!" Worm shouted frantically, "Sorry, but the rides over!" The doors to the coach suddenly flew open and the panicky Trailmon tossed out all three stone holders onto the ground before taking off.

"Look over there!" shouted Meta Knight. Takuya and Kaiba turned in the direction that Meta Knight was pointing in with his sword and saw several black creatures about a head shorter than Takuya with bat wings, tails, big bat ears, and fangs. Emblazoned on their chests was the Blackhearted insignia.

"They're Blackhearted alright," said Takuya, "It's time to fight! SPIRIT EVOLUTION!"

**__**

"AGNIMON!"

"Wait! We must know what kind of Blackhearted these are!" said Meta Knight.

"I don't care. I'm going on!" Agnimon clenched his fists and they both started burning with bright orange flames, "BURNING SALAMANDER!" He thrust his fists forward and launched two large fireballs at the minions, which were labeled by Cherubimon as the Shademon.

"I summon Blade Knight in attack mode!" Kaiba slapped a card onto his Duel Disk and the blue-armored warrior appeared before him, "Blade Knight, strike down those Blackhearted now!" Blade Knight grasped its sword firmly and ran in the battle. It swung its blade and wiped out three Shademon with one fell blow.

Meta Knight drew back his sword as several Blackhearted approached him and swung, launching a blade beam that sliced through them.

"Now I summon X-Head Cannon!" Kaiba slapped down another card onto his Duel Disk and his X-Head Cannon appeared next to his Blade Knight, "Attack now!" Blade Knight drew back its arm and ran back into the storm of Blackhearted while X-Head Cannon targeted several of the dark minions and fired, hitting them dead-on.

Meanwhile, several Soldiers appeared to assist the Shademon. Agnimon quickly whipped around and launched several Fire Darts at their Blackhearted insignias.

"Watch out!" Meta Knight warned as a Dark Armor suddenly dropped down from the sky.

"Leave it to me!" said Kaiba, "I summon Familiar Knight! Attack the Dark Armor now!" The Duelist slapped down another card and the level three Warrior monster appeared and charged towards the disembodied suit of armor. However, the Dark Armor simply drew back its gauntlet and slammed its fist into Familiar Knight, destroying it.

"Kaiba, what good did that do?" asked Agnimon as he punched aside another Shademon.

"It allowed me to summon this," Kaiba answered, "Rare Metal Dragon!" He placed a new card on his Duel Disk and the 2400-attack monster appeared and charged towards Dark Armor. The monster made contact with the torso and the metallic menace was vanquished.

"Mind explaining that please?" Agnimon asked.

"Even though it's a level four monster, Rare Metal Dragon can't be Normal Summoned or Set," Kaiba explained, "So in order to bring it out, I used my Familiar Knight's special ability to Special Summon it."

"Makes sense. Kaiba, watch out!" Kaiba turned and saw a pair of Shademon flying straight at him.

"**_Agnimon Slide Evolution! VRITRAMON!"_**

Vritramon quickly flew in and slammed into the two Digimon Blackhearted.

"CORONA BLASTER!" The blasters on his forearms rotated forward and he unleashed a barrage of red-hot laserfire on the Shademon until they were deleted.

"That wasn't necessary," the Kaiba Corp CEO muttered, "Rare Metal Dragon, attack!" The black scaled beast roared before unleashing its onslaught on the Blackhearted.

"FLAME STORM!" Burning hot flames surrounded Vritramon's body as he flew past the remaining minions of darkness, incinerating them until nothing remained.

"That's the last of them!" Meta Knight called. Kaiba collected up his cards from his Duel Disk and placed them back into his deck and shuffled it while Vritramon devolved back into Takuya.

"Let's get moving," said the goggle boy. Kaiba and Meta Knight nodded in agreement and the three of them moved out.

ooo

"The Shademon were among the weaker Blackhearted inhabiting the Digital World," Cherubimon thought out loud as he continued to watch the three stone holders as they approached his castle under the Rose Morning Star, "Let them come. There's even more Blackhearted in here." The Great Angel turned around and several more Blackhearted minions appeared. Aside from some Shademon and the standard Shadows and Soldiers, he had also called upon some deep crimson creatures with horns and purple wings carrying around spears. Like the others, they too bore the Blackhearted crest on their bodies.

"These Evilmon Blackhearted shall make excellent reinforcements," Cherubimon chortled, "And while I'm at it, I'll send this one out, as well." His lips curled back into an evil grin as a silhouette appeared in his viewing sphere.

ooo

Back at ADI headquarters, Kite and Jim were busy going over plans for a Chaos Gate as a means of replacing the obliterated transporter.

"So in order to use this thing, I'll have to input a set of keywords that, depending on the combination, can take anyone to any part of the universe?" asked Jim.

"That's it in a nutshell," answered Kite.

"We'll have to send out a team to get some supplies." The young mechanic leaned back in his chair and stretched. Elsewhere in the building, Chaud was looking over the LPU Jim had given him.

"It's handy, but Cross Fusion works much more efficiently," he thought out loud as he placed the device back on the table.

"If you want, we can get to work on creating some portable Dimensional Converters," a voice suggested. The ace NetBattler turned around and saw Otaku walking in carrying a stack of papers in one hand.

"Can you do that?" asked Chaud.

"We've got plans for everything here," the leader of the ADI answered as he set down his papers, "After all, we've got access to every single world."

"Speaking of which," Chaud interjected, "if this place isn't on any of the worlds, then where exactly are we?"

"Inter-world space."

Meanwhile, Richie was watching the activity going on in the base from the security room with Ryo sitting across from him.

"I still can't believe that both Sephiroth and Bakura did so much damage to the base," the Pokémon trainer sighed.

"We've established that several times already," the Legendary Tamer replied, "There's nothing we could have done. They both took us by surprise."

"Still, there has to be something we can do to fortify the base."

"Well, when the stone holders get back we can send them out to get supplies for that."

ooo

The rocks crunched beneath Takuya's sneakers as he, Kaiba, and Meta Knight continued traversing through the Dark Region towards Cherubimon's castle.

"It's a lot farther away than I thought," Takuya sighed.

"Nobody said it was going to be easy," Kaiba muttered.

"Indeed not," a new voice called out; The three stone holders turned towards the direction of the voice and saw several Blackhearted approaching. Accompanying them was a warrior with long blond hair dressed in black armor with eyes on his chest, shoulders, elbows, knees, and feet and a pair of black dragon skull for hands. Takuya recognized him immediately.

"Duskmon!" The Legendary Warrior of Darkness laughed evilly as he stepped forward.

"Correct," he said, "I will take great pleasure in destroying you, as will the Blackhearted."

"Kouichi, why have you turned back into Duskmon?" asked Takuya.

"He has most likely fallen under the spell of darkness of the Blackhearted," Meta Knight guessed.

"I've had enough of this," Kaiba said coldly as he activated his Duel Disk. Meta Knight turned and looked up at Takuya.

"Takuya, if you do not wish to fight your friend, that is understandable," he said as he drew his sword. Takuya tightened his grip around his D-Scan and looked up.

"I'm sure about this," he answered, "Duskmon is mine. DOUBLE SPIRIT EVOLUTION!"

**__**

"ARDHAMON!"

Now in his A-Hybrid form, Ardhamon spread his wings and flew towards Duskmon, who extended his swords out of his hands. The two warriors clashed and Duskmon was pushed back.

"I summon Vorse Raider!" Kaiba slapped the card down onto his Duel Disk and the Warrior-type monster appeared in front of him, "Now Vorse Raider, attack those monsters now!" The creature obeyed and Vorse Raider dove into the fray of Blackhearted and started swinging its weapon as it passed, slicing apart several of the minions as it passed.

"Sword Beam!" Meta Knight drew back his arm and swung his sword, sending out an energy beam from the blade that cut through three Soldiers.

"GEIST ABEND!" Duskmon retracted his swords into his hands and held out his arms. All of his eyes pointed forward and he fired a barrage of red lasers towards Ardhamon. The winged Digimon quickly spread out his wings and leapt up over the beams. As soon as he had, though, Duskmon re-extended his swords and charged. Ardhamon was completely caught off guard and was pushed back as he blocked the dark Digimon's attack. Meanwhile, deep inside Duskmon, Kouichi Kimura was continuously screaming for help.

"Please help me!" he shouted into the abyss, "Someone, help!" At that moment, he saw a brief glimpse of the outside world and saw Ardhamon.

"Takuya! Get me out of here!" He knew his words couldn't reach him, but he still tried.

"BRAHMA SUTRA!" Ardhamon's weapon rotated forward and opened up before he unleashed a barrage of fireballs on Duskmon. The dark Digimon swung his swords and attempted to cut them apart as they came. Meanwhile around them, Kaiba and Meta Knight continued to fight against the Blackhearted minions.

"I summon Z-Metal Tank and Kaiser Sea Horse!" Kaiba slapped the cards down onto his Duel Disk and the two monsters appeared alongside his Vorse Raider. His warrior slashed past several Shadows and Evilmon while his machine monster blasted through a horde of Shademon and his Kaiser Sea Horse ploughed past a line of Soldiers.

Meta Knight jumped up to evade two oncoming Evilmon and they slammed into each other headfirst. As he came back down, he swung down his sword and removed their heads.

"EROBERUNG!" Duskmon swung his swords and carved a red full moon in front of him. Ardhamon braced himself for whatever was to come as the dark warrior suddenly burst through the illusion and slammed into him blades first. Ardhamon was pushed back considerably, but he still managed to stand his ground.

"You're holding out better than I had anticipated," said Duskmon as he stepped back and withdrew his swords, "But it ends now." And with that, clouds of darkness began to shroud his body.

**__**

"Duskmon Slide Evolution! VELGMON!"

The Blackhearted that were fighting Meta Knight and Kaiba suddenly stopped attacking and looked up as the massive crimson demonic bird rose up and soared overhead. The stone holders of Thunder and Water also shifted their gaze upward at the Beast Warrior of Darkness. Velgmon let out a deafening roar before banking around and dive-bombing towards the ground.

"Look out!" shouted Ardhamon. He, Kaiba, and Meta Knight quickly leapt away as Velgmon's talons swept along the ground. The Blackhearted, being less intelligent, weren't so fortunate as they were struck down by the claws and destroyed.

ooo

"What is this?" asked Cherubimon, "No, you fool! Don't destroy our own forces!"

"Trouble, Cherubimon?" The corrupted Great Angel turned at the sound of the voice and saw Yami Malik approaching him.

"Malik…"

"It seems as though you've lost your hold on him," the ancient Egyptian spirit noted as he watched the activity on Cherubimon's viewing sphere.

"The Beast Spirit's instincts always kick in when awakened," the large Digimon replied. Yami Malik smirked.

"Let's just see how this battle turns out."

ooo

"I sacrifice my Kaiser Sea Horse in order to summon one of my Blue-Eyes White Dragons!" Kaiba removed the effect monster from his Duel Disk and slipped it into his Graveyard before slapping down one of his most powerful monsters in its place. In front of him, his Kaiser Sea Horse disappeared and from its place rose the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. The mighty beast let out an ear-piercing roar, announcing itself to everyone in the area.

"Blue-Eyes White Dragon, White Lightning!" Kaiba ordered. Immediately following its master's command, the dragon opened its mouth and unleashed a powerful sparking beam of energy straight at Velgmon. The dark warrior banked left and avoided the blast. Letting out another roar, he flew in low and started to drag the tip of his wing along the ground, leaving a thin red line.

"What is he doing?" asked Meta Knight. Ardhamon's eyes widened. He'd seen this attack before.

"Everyone, get outside of the circle now!" he shouted. Velgmon finally completed the ring and flew high into the air. His eyes flashed and he gave one mighty flap from his wings.

"ZONE DELETER!" Two curved walls of dark energy began to rise up from the circle and close over it like a dome.

"We must run!" exclaimed Meta Knight as he re-sheathed his sword. The Star Warrior began to run towards the gap where the two sides were bound to meet. Kaiba signalled his dragon and the great beast landed next to him. He climbed on and ordered it to take off. Ardhamon spread his wings and flew after his comrades. The three of them were able to make it out just in time. The Blackhearted minions, however, weren't so fortunate. Because of their numbers, there wasn't enough room for them to move and in they end they were caught inside the dome as it closed. A pair of eyes opened on the surface, giving it the resemblance of Cherubimon's face, before the whole dome shone bright red and exploded, destroying everything inside it. Ardhamon, Kaiba, and Meta Knight looked at the smoking crater that the Zone Deleter had just created in awe of Velgmon's power.

"He's coming back!" exclaimed Kaiba as the massive bird banked around and flew straight towards them.

"Not if we can do anything about it," replied Ardhamon, "BRAHMA SUTRA!" He activated his weapons and unleashed a barrage of fireballs at the incoming Velgmon. His attack missed as the target veered away and landed on a large rock.

"MASTER OF DARKNESS!" Velgmon stared intently at the three stone holders and fired a stream of glowing red eyes from his third eye.

"Negate Attack!" Kaiba quickly activated his trap card and the Master of Darkness was swallowed up by an invisible vortex in midair.

"At this rate, we're never going to get this mission over with," the teenaged CEO muttered.

"We just need to be able to separate Kouichi's spirits from him so I can scan and purify them," Ardhamon said as Velgmon took flight once again, "We'll have to hit him hard!"

"Why don't you use that summon gem you were given before we left on our mission?" Meta Knight suggested.

"I almost forgot about that!" Ardhamon reached behind him and produced the fiery orange sphere. He stood up and faced Velgmon as the massive demonic bird swooped in low. Taking in a deep breath, he held out the summon gem in his hand.

"Spirit of the gem, please come aid us in this time of need." The summon gem flashed and flames poured out and fell to the ground. They moved along the surface until they had burned a large circle with several complicated designs and symbols in the dirt. Suddenly, the ground in the circle burst open as a large pillar of fire rose up. From the towering inferno emerged a fiery beast with dark brown hair covering its entire body, two powerful arms with claws on the end of each finger, and four long curved horns protruding out from its dog-like head. Its heels, thighs, elbows, and shoulders were ablaze with flames. A large mane of pure flames encircled its head and ran along the center of its back, ending in a blazing tail. A flash of fire burst from its mouth as the beast let out a mighty roar and burned its name onto the ground.

"Ifrit," Meta Knight read.

"Ifrit, help us defeat Velgmon!" commanded Ardhamon. The flaming beast growled in acknowledgement and spat a meteor up at Velgmon. The blazing projectile collided with its target and the demonic bird descended, landing on yet another large rock.

"Ifrit, hit him with Hellfire!" Ifrit complied with Ardhamon's orders started spewing flames from his mouth into the ground. It was only a few seconds later that a massive pillar of fire suddenly burst up around Velgmon trapping him within the inferno. Ifrit ceased breathing into the ground and roared as his hands flared up and he threw two fireballs. They struck Velgmon from both sides and the dark Digimon let out a roar of agony. By the time, the pillar of fire had become a blazing tornado that ripped around its victim burning it from every possible angle. Ifrit then ground his foot against the ground like a bull about to charge as his entire body became engulfed in flames. He then launched himself straight towards the trapped Velgmon and slammed into him with full force. The flames died down and Velgmon staggered out, his body smoking and covered with burns. The summon creature's part now done, Ardhamon built up his power into one single fireball at least twice his size.

"BRAHMA SHIL!" He raised his arms over his head and threw his attack forward. Velgmon's roar pierced the air as the attack struck him. His roar faded away when Duskmon separated from his body and from him emerged Kouichi. With the two Spirits of Darkness removed, their Digicodes formed around the empty shells of the two Digimon. Ardhamon nodded with satisfaction and took out his D-Scan.

"Digicode Scan!" He scanned the Spirit of Darkness into his Digivice and Kouichi fell to the ground. Ardhamon quickly devolved back into Takuya and ran over to the black-haired boy. Kaiba and Meta Knight came up behind him and looked down.

"How is he?" asked Meta Knight.

"I think he's going to be fine," Takuya sighed. Kouichi slowly regained consciousness and he was finally able to sit up on his own.

"Kouichi."

"Takuya, is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me." Kouichi leaned his head against the rock he had propped himself up against and took a deep breath.

"Who are these two?" he asked as his gaze fell towards Meta Knight and Kaiba.

"Long story and no time to tell it," answered Takuya, "Where are Izumi and the others." Kouichi raised his hand and pointed towards the Rose Morning Star.

"They're in Cherubimon's castle," he replied.

"Are they alright?"

"They were the last time I saw them." Takuya let out a sigh of relief before turning back towards Kouichi.

"What's happened here?" he asked.

"Well, after we were captured we were taken to Cherubimon's castle by those black creatures," Kouichi explained, "He imprisoned Izumi, Tomoki, and my brother and took away their D-Scans. At the time, I wondered why he didn't lock me up with them. My answer came when those black creatures surrounded me. They somehow got into my D-Scan and changed my spirits back into their evil forms. Then Cherubimon force-evolved me into Duskmon. Since then, I had no control over my body until now."

"I'd hate to break up this heartwarming reunion," Kaiba interjected, "but we need to get going."

"He's right." Takuya held out his hand and helped Kouichi onto his feet, "We gotta save everyone from Cherubimon. And fast. By the way, Kouichi, you'll need these." Takuya took out his D-Scan and Kouichi did the same.

"Fire into Darkness." A stream of light travelled from Takuya's Digivice to Kouichi's and along it travelled the Spirits of Darkness. As they transferred Digivices, the two Spirits transformed back into their purified forms.

"Let's go."

ooo

"Here they come," Cherubimon chortled as he watched the stone holder party and their new addition approach his castle.

"Make sure you don't mess this up," Yami Malik growled as he turned around. A black portal opened up and he disappeared through it, leaving Cherubimon alone in his castle once again.

"Rest assured, I will destroy them."

ooo

"So where were Izumi, Tomoki, and the others the last time you saw them?" asked Takuya.

"They were imprisoned somewhere near the base of the castle," answered Kouichi as the finally reached Cherubimon's castle.

"How do we get in?" asked Meta Knight.

"There's a path down here. Follow me." Kouichi led the way with the stone holders right behind him. They entered an area filled with what seemed to be countless mirrors floating around in the air.

"Can you remember exactly where they were?" asked Takuya.

"I have an educated guess, but that's it." After several minutes of walking around, they finally found the other Chosen Children, each shackled inside separate cells.

"Izumi! Tomoki! Kouji! Junpei! Bokomon! Neemon!" The four kids and two Digimon looked up at the sound of Takuya's voice and turned their heads towards him.

"Takuya!" exclaimed Izumi.

"We're saved!" cried Bokomon, who was locked in the same cell as Neemon.

"Hold on, guys. We'll get you out," Takuya assured them.

"How?" asked Kouji.

"Leave that to us," said Meta Knight as he stepped forward. He drew his sword from its scabbard and cut down the bars to Tomoki's cell.

"Blade Knight, help them." Kaiba placed the card on the surface of his Duel Disk and the monster appeared before him. It swung its blade and cut its way into Kouji's cell. Blade Knight then freed the bandanna-wearing boy from his chain as did Meta Knight with Tomoki. It didn't take long to get the others free and soon everyone was standing in the corridor of the dungeon.

"I'm really glad all you guys are safe," Takuya said relieved. Izumi ran up to the goggle boy and threw her arms around him.

"I was worried about you," she whispered into his ear. Takuya slowly moved his arms around Izumi and returned her embrace.

"You don't need to worry, anymore," he assured her, "I'm here." Meanwhile, Kouji, Tomoki, Junpei, Bokomon, and Neemon were looking towards Kaiba and Meta Knight.

"Who are these people?" asked Bokomon.

"We'll talk more about that later," Takuya answered as he pulled away from Izumi, "Right now, we have to take care of Cherubimon."

"There's just one problem," Junpei interjected, "When we got captured, he took our Digivices from us."

"Then we'll just have to get them back." Takuya stepped forward and held his D-Scan tightly in his grip, "Time to head up."

After leaving the dungeon, the group quickly found a set of crystalline stairs and scaled them to the top of the tower. It wasn't long before they finally saw the massive form of Cherubimon.

"I've been expecting you," the corrupted Great Angel cackled as they came up. Sitting on a stone table behind him were Kouji's, Izumi's, Tomoki's, and Junpei's D-Scans.

"This ends now, Cherubimon!" Takuya shouted.

"Interesting," Cherubimon chortled, "However, you won't be able to defeat me even with all your Digivices!" And with that, he spread out his arms like a pair of wings and beckoned them to attack.

"Takuya, you help your friends!" Meta Knight directed, "Kaiba and I shall fight him off for now."

"Thanks, you two." Takuya turned towards his friends and nodded, "Let's go!" And with that, the Chosen Children made a break for the D-Scans.

"Don't let them get those Digivices!" Cherubimon barked. From the shadows in the chamber, several Blackhearted emerged and proceeded to converge on the six kids.

"Your fight's with us!" Kaiba called to Cherubimon.

"You want a piece of me?" asked the evil Digimon, "Come and get it!" Kaiba drew four cards from his deck and placed three of them onto the field.

"I summon X Head Cannon, Y Dragon Head, and Z Metal Tank!" As Kaiba declared his creatures, they all appeared in front of him alongside the Blade Knight he summoned back in the dungeon.

"Now I remove my monsters from play!" the Duelist continued, "In doing so, I fuse them together into XYZ Dragon Cannon!" True to his words, the three mechanical creatures converged on one another and combined into one mighty machine. Kaiba held out his hand and pointed straight at Cherubimon.

"Attack now!" The XYZ-Dragon Cannon powered up its weapons and took aim.

"It's useless," Cherubimon sneered. A few seconds later, he was blasted out the side of the tower. He quickly recovered from the hit and hovered in the air outside the castle.

Meanwhile, the Chosen Children had run into a large horde of Blackhearted, which blocked access to the Digivices.

"How are we going to get across?" asked Tomoki.

"With this!" Takuya held out Ifrit's summon gem and called on the fiery beast again. Ifrit appeared in no time and stood ready to take Takuya's command.

"Ifrit, blast those Blackhearted away!" The summoned creature roared in compliance and unleashed a blazing inferno on the Blackhearted. The minions of darkness were quickly burned away and a path cleared. Kouji, Izumi, Junpei, and Tomoki dashed in and grabbed their Digivices off the table.

"Now let's get down to the serious stuff," Takuya declared. Izumi, Junpei, Tomoki, and Kouichi held out their D-Scans and a ring of Digicode appeared around each of their left hands. The four of them quickly scanned them.

"SPIRIT EVOLUTION!" Their clothes tore away from their bodies and their human spirits activated. The armor from their respective Hybrid forms appeared over their bodies and transformed them.

**__**

"FAIRYMON!"

"BLITZMON!"

"CHAKMON!"

"LÖWEMON!"

Takuya and Kouji held out their D-Scans and their left hands were surrounded by a collection of Digicodes, which they scanned through.

"DOUBLE SPIRIT EVOLUTION!" Their clothes were instantly ripped away as their bodies were surrounded by their respective elements. Both boys' H-Spirits and B-Spirits circled them four times before converging onto them, transforming them into their A-Hybrid forms.

**__**

"ARDHAMON!"

"BEOWULFMON!"

"Let's do it!" shouted Ardhamon. The other Hybrids chorused in agreement and followed as he led them into the heat of the battle.

"LIGHTNING SPEAR!" A bolt of red lightning formed in Cherubimon's hand and he threw it forward, piercing Kaiba's Blade Knight and destroying it. Meta Knight leapt towards the massive Digimon and stuck his sword into him. However because of the size difference, it was nothing more to Cherubimon than a needle prick.

"You'll have to do better than that!"

"We intend to!" Cherubimon looked up at the source of the voice and saw Ardhamon and the other Hybrids heading towards him.

"BREZZA PETALO!" Fairymon conjured up ten mini tornadoes, one on each finger, and launched them at Cherubimon. The attack caught him off guard and he stumbled back in surprise.

"GOLDEN THUNDER!" Blitzmon's fist sparked wildly as he unleashed a powerful lightning bolt aimed at Cherubimon.

"SNOW BOMBER!" Chakmon unhooked his rocket launcher from his back and fired off a barrage of ice-hard snowballs.

"ENDLICH METEOR!" The lion head on Löwemon's chest opened its mouth and fired a powerful blast of dark energy. Combined with Blitzmon's Golden Thunder and Chakmon's Snow Bomber, they struck Cherubimon hard on the chest and knocked him back several meters.

"Our turn!" shouted Ardhamon, "Ready, Kouji?"

"Oh yeah!" replied Beowulfmon, "ZWEIHANDLER!" Light surrounded the blades of his sword and they rose into the form of a glowing wolf. With a mighty howl, it launched itself at Cherubimon with Beowulfmon right inside it.

"What!" Cherubimon brought his arms up in front of himself as the wolf slammed into him and Beowulfmon followed up with a powerful slash from his sword.

"BRAHMA SHIL!" Ardhamon launched his most devastating attack and hit the evil angel with full force.

"Their teamwork is incredible!" Meta Knight commented as he watched the Legendary Warriors fight. Kaiba scoffed.

"I couldn't care less about the value of teamwork. I just want to get this over with. I summon Lord of Dragons and activate two Flutes of Summoning Dragon!" Kaiba summoned his Spellcaster and activated his Magic Cards. Instantly, he placed all three of his Blue-Eyes White Dragons onto his Duel Disk and the majestic creatures appeared before him and roared.

"Blue-Eyes White Dragons, White Lightning attack!" All three dragons opened their mouths and launched powerful beams of energy straight towards Cherubimon.

"Are you serious?" the Great Angel sneered, "HEAVEN'S JUDGEMENT!" Several black bolts of lightning shot out from out of nowhere and intercepted all three White Lightning attacks. Meta Knight fired off several Sword Beams, but Cherubimon blocked them with a Lightning Spear he was using as a sword. He then turned to the Hybrids.

"Now to dispose of you!" he growled ,"LIGHTNING SPEAR!" He threw his weapon down and struck them all with one blow. The force created by such a blast forced all six of them to devolve back into their human forms.

"Kaiba, we must help them!" alerted Meta Knight.

"I won't be brushed off so easily," grumbled Kaiba as he activated a Polymerization card and fused his Blue-Eyes White Dragons into the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon.

"Now I shall destroy you for good," Cherubimon snarled as he reached out towards the kids. Suddenly, his hand was blasted away and he was forced to turn his attention to the other two stone holders. Back on the ground, the Chosen Children succeeded in getting up.

"Looks like we've got no choice," Kouji thought out loud.

"Let's do it," said Takuya. Everyone took out their D-Scans.

"Wind into Fire!" shouted Izumi.

"Ice into Fire!" cried Tomoki.

"Thunder into Light!" Junpei yelled.

"Darkness into Light!" announced Kouichi.

With their friends' Spirits now lent to them, Takuya and Kouji activated their collections of Digicode rings and scanned them.

"HYPER SPIRIT EVOLUTION!"

**__**

"KAISERGREYMON!"

"MAGNAGARURUMON!"

The two Z-Hybrids quickly took their friends over to a safe location before engaging Cherubimon.

"FLAME DRAGON ATTACK!" KaiserGreymon held his sword out in front of him like a crossbow and shot a powerful beam of energy straight at Cherubimon's back. His attack hit its mark and caused the target to turn around.

"What the?"

"MACHINEGUN DESTROY!" MagnaGarurumon launched all his missiles and fired off his machinegun and his cannon, swallowing Cherubimon in a storm of artillery.

"Sword Beams!" Meta Knight swung his sword and fired off more energy waves at the dark Digimon.

"I sacrifice my Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon in order to summon the Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon!" Kaiba's three-headed dragon instantly disappeared and was replaced with a single more majestic-looking creature. He also summoned another monster and sacrificed it, his Lord of Dragons, and his XYZ Dragon Cannon to Special Summon God of the Obelisk. Before long, Cherubimon was faced with two powerful monsters, two Z-Hybrid Digimon, and a short knight.

"Cherubimon, your reign of terror ends now!" KaiserGreymon declared. The fallen angel chuckled darkly as he glared at his opponents with a menacing look in his eyes.

"You are fool to think that you can stand up to one of the Great Angels combined with the dark powers of the Blackhearted!" he bellowed.

"That hasn't stopped us before and it's not going to stop us now!" KaiserGreymon plunged his sword into the ground and eight rows of flame shot out in different directions, "NINE-HEADED DRAGON RANKS!" Each row of flames rose up in the form of a dragon head and bit down on Cherubimon, holding him fast in place. Finally, the ground beneath KaiserGreymon gave way and a ninth and larger head rose up and headed straight for the evil Digimon. As it slammed into its target, the Z-Hybrid of Fire raised his sword over his head and brought it downward. His weapon cut through Cherubimon like a lightsaber and he landed on a floating rock somewhere behind him.

"We must attack now!" Meta Knight called out, "Sword Beam!" He swung his sword and sent and energy wave flying towards Cherubimon, hitting him dead on the chest.

"Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon and God of the Obelisk, attack now!" Kaiba commanded. His two monsters complied and advanced towards Cherubimon. First, the Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon launched a shimmering energy blast from its mouth at the massive Digimon followed by God of the Obelisk slamming its enormous fist into his chest.

"STARLIGHT VELOCITY!" MagnaGarurumon discarded his weapons and drew his lightsabers. As he activated the blades, he powered up his jets and shot forward. He streaked towards Cherubimon at unfathomable speeds and cleaved his way right through his body with his energy blades. The dark angel fell onto the rocks and collapsed on one knee, gasping. When he looked up, his eyes widened as KaiserGreymon came down towards him and plunged his sword deep into his forehead.

"How…could I have been…defeated…?" Those final words slowly escaped Cherubimon's mouth as KaiserGreymon pulled his sword out from his head and dark matter started to spill out. before long, the Great Angel's body had disintegrated into a nothing more than a cloud of pixels and dissipated.

"They did it!" exclaimed Izumi.

"They defeated Cherubimon!" Kouichi added. Back on the battlefield, KaiserGreymon and MagnaGarurumon reverted back into Takuya and Kouji, Kaiba's monsters disappeared as he gathered his cards back up, and Meta Knight re-sheathed his sword. The goggle boy turned to his fellow Chosen Children and grinned as he gave them a thumb-up.

ooo

Sora directed Takuya as he brought the _Highwind_ into the hangar and docked it. Squall and Ryo quickly brought out the ramp as the Gummi Ship's cockpit opened, allowing the three stone holders and their passengers to disembark.

"How did your mission go?" asked the Legendary Tamer.

"The Digital World is safe," Takuya reported, "and we managed to rescue a few people, too." The three members of the ADI staff currently standing in the hangar looked up as the rest of the Chosen Children came out from the _Highwind_ along with Bokomon and Neemon.

"I'll go to Otaku and get the paperwork," Squall volunteered and he turned around and left. Meanwhile, the other kids were looking around completely awestruck by their surroundings.

"So this is where you've been staying all this time?" asked Junpei.

"It looks like something from a movie," Kouji commented.

"It's…kinda complicated," Takuya replied.

"Takuya, you're needed in Otaku's office!" Squall yelled.

"I'll explain everything later!" And with that, Takuya quickly scaled the ladder up to the catwalk and disappeared into a doorway.

"I'll take you to your rooms," Sora offered to the Chosen Children and began to lead them away.

ooo

"So much for Cherubimon," Riku scoffed as he threw the report he had been given onto the table and walked onto the balcony where Sephiroth stood. The two of them looked out at the void that surrounded the Blackhearted headquarters and heard an odd noise coming from below. Riku cast his gaze downward.

"It looks like King Ghidorah is getting restless," he observed.

"It shouldn't be much longer before his services are required," replied Sephiroth as he turned and headed back in.

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Thus concludes this chapter (finally).


End file.
